Fate Soul
by HeavenCleaver1214
Summary: As Shirou and Gilgamesh clashed for the final time, everything ceased. And then, everything stopped making sense. A Shirou insert into the world of Bleach story. Rated M just in case.
1. Fate Portal

**AN: This is my first fanfic. Criticism will be welcomed.**

Shirou glanced up at the never-ending golden portals as he begun to trace more swords. Up ahead, Gilgamesh looked down upon him as if he was puzzled. Even now, he could see the confusion within those inhuman eyes, as Gilgamesh tried to understand how a _mongrel_ such as himself could be surviving the onslaught.

"How?!" Gilgamesh roared as he reached across his vault to bring a new weapon into existence.

Shirou glared at the golden god as he started to _trace._ A beautiful golden light appeared, and his reality marble warped, as if the world was having trouble accepting such an existence. A beautiful sword, a holy sword, a sword… that belonged to _her_. As Shirou raised the ultimate weapon, he remembered all the times _she_ would berate him for working too hard or going too far. And now, as his death towered above him, he knew. He had no regrets.

Light begun to shine as Shirou heaved his weapon. Gilgamesh finally finished exposing his own weapon, and it too shone as it warped the reality marble with the immense power it contained. With iridescent light spilling from the sword(?)- _swordlancedaggerbowhalberdspear-_? The reality marble begun to break within the seams. Gilgamesh no longer had a puzzled expression, now he only had resolve as he begun to raise the weapon(?)- _static_ \- sword(?)- _static_ \- and brought it down upon the world with a heavy shout of " _ố_ _ǵ_ _ȡ_ _bḂ_ _Ƃ_ _ỹŶề_?!".

Shirou's eyes stung as he pictured _her_ standing next to him, encouraging him to finally finish what they had come to do. And as tears begun to drip, he swung. "Excalibur."

And when the two lights met, everything ceased.

Shirou opened his eyes to an unfamiliar sight. His eyes took in the surroundings around him as he begun to groggily get up to a standing position. As he got up, he noticed something strange, he was in a forest(?) of some sort. Tall trees surrounded him, and the smell of the damp forest almost overwhelmed his senses. "Where… am I?" Shirou mused as he realized that he was almost bare of clothing. Speechless, he shook his head as he begun to tread towards a direction hoping for a clue, and clothes.

He had walked for nearly an hour before he came across another living being. A creature, that looked as if it was dragged from hell, and was apparently gorging on something. As he walked up towards it, the creature stopped and turned around. A ghastly face of something inhuman stared back at Shirou. In its hands was a girl…or what was left of one.

"Trace On!" Shirou shouted as he leapt forward, a mundane sword already beginning to form within his hands. The creature turned around fully as it swung its left hand at him. He ducked under the hand and brought up the blade to slice into the hollows head, only to come face to face with a hole within the middle of its chest. Shocked, he stumbled back as the creature took the chance to introduce its claws to his face. Shirou stumbled back as he just barely dodged the claws and swung back at it. The creature howled as the sword found its mark and drove in deep within the creature's torso.

Shirou took the chance to trace another sword and backed off from the wildly flailing creature. And then he noticed something peculiar. "What?" murmured Shirou as he realized that his reinforcement wasn't working properly. It would constantly be refreshed and removed, almost as if he was being constantly reformed. It took him another second to structurally grasp himself and find out the answer. He wasn't human anymore. At least, not entirely. His body seemed to be something more of a spirit than a living human being. Confused, he shook his head trying to refocus on the matter at hand. The creature began to growl and ran off to the trees, leaving the half dead girl behind. Shirou chased after the creature, only to stop as he heard a groan. "Nnnghh.." the girl groaned out as she tried to sit up with only half a body. Shirou contemplated running after the creature, but he was a savior at heart.

"Can you hear me?" he asked as he begun to scroll through his available weapons, looking for something, anything that might save her.

"Please…go….tell…." the girl groaned out as she tried to get her words across.

"…" Shirou listened silently for the last message of the girl as he realized that there was nothing he could do.

"T-tell…find…Ran…gik…u.." the girl breathed out as she collapsed completely.

"…You didn't even tell me your name." Shirou sighed softly as he closed her eyes and said his final farewells.

The girl looked almost peaceful, as if she was only taking a nap if it wasn't for the missing lower part of her body. He took the chance to memorize her face and her clothing. A black robe of some sort… and a pale face. A pretty face with long lashes and brown hair. She was grasping onto a sword of some sort. And as he structurally grasped it, Shirou's eyes widened as he was left with a sword that had no history other than being forged within a sea. Something strange happened though, he could not save it within his reality marble. Even though the existence of this _thing_ was a sword… his reality marble refused to store it within his soul.

"Looks like I have to go find this Rangiku person." Shirou exhaled as he begun his journey again, this time towards the trail the creature had left behind.


	2. Fate Search

"Excuse me," Shirou asked "Do you know of a person called Rangiku?"

The shopkeeper looked up and grunted "No, and if you're not going to buy anything you can piss off." Sighing audibly, Shirou continued to the last stall with the hope of finding someone who knew this "Rangiku" person. Before he could even bring up the question, the stall keeper blurted out "If you ain't buying anything, go." Sighing audibly once more, Shirou began his trek back to the forest.

3 months had passed since the incident with the brunette girl, with 3 months of no progress. He managed to gather some information of the place he was in, and it was suitably called Soul Society. It seemed to be some sort of country that housed spirits instead of living humans. The creature he had seen before was something called a hollow, a vengeful spirit that wasn't purified fast enough and became something that would try and devour other spirits to sate their hunger. He quickly figured out that they weren't too troublesome to defeat for himself, something he found out within the forest, but to these unarmed spirit civilians they were a nightmare.

Unfortunately, these spirits also had currency… which meant that he would have to sleep on the streets. He had avoided doing so by building small shelters in the forests as he travelled, but this caused his search for "Rangiku" to be delayed even longer. Not to mention his growing hunger, finding money for a room seemed lightyears away. As he contemplated which direction to travel next, Shirou jumped, startled by a scream. A scream this deep into the forest… that could only mean one thing. He leapt into action as he started to trace a sword while running towards the location of the scream.

* * *

"PFfft," a petite girl laughed as she berated a boy. "Fukushima-kun… how could you be scared by a single hollow?"

"Shut up!" Fukushima returned, as his face begun to glow red. "It jumped me when I was taking a piss goddamn it!" Fukushima continued to turn red as the girl's giggle soon became full blown laughter. He swiveled around to the third person in the clearing, a gorgeous blonde girl, and shouted "AND WHY WERE YOU JUST WATCHING!"

"BAHAHAH!" the blonde burst out laughing as she tried to stop herself from falling to the floor. "It w-was just-t-t-t TOO FUNNY!" As the two girls began laughing even harder, Fukushima finally concluded that he had had enough, and began to chase the two.

"I'M GONNA GET YOU TWO!" he exclaimed as he rushed towards the two with his asauchi drawn. The girls ran around teasing Fukushima as he began to see red. "THAT'S IT!" he screamed as he begun to swing at the two girls. "Woah now, you don't want to scare the hollows do you?" the petite girl jested as she dodged a swing. "What are you talking about Eto-chan? Don't you have it the other way around?" questioned the blonde as she too dodged out of Fukushima's rage.

Eto giggled as she left out a "Hmm, I guess you're right!" By this point, Fukushima was exploding as he threw his asauchi towards the blonde. He growled out "FINE LET'S FIGHT THEN" as he lunged towards Eto. The two girls squealed "Kyaa!" as they attempted to dodge the incoming projectiles. Suddenly, a blur jumped out of the woods, as it proceeded to chop across Fukushima's neck and catch the asauchi at the same time.

"What is going on here." Shirou breathed out calmly.

The blonde and Eto stopped, taken aback by the appearance of a new man. He was a red-haired boy, with an asauchi across his back… but he wasn't wearing a shihakusho. The boy looked as if he lived in the forest… and smelled like it to.

"I heard a scream is everyone alright?" asked the newcomer as he looked around the surroundings for any other threats. He glanced down at the boy in his hands. "Is this guy bothering you?" he asked as he looked back up towards the two girls.

"Uh…" the two couldn't find words to say as they looked confused at the redhead. "No, that's our classmate…" returned an uneasy Eto.

"Oh. OH!" the redhead seemed to realize his blunder as he dropped the boy like a sack of potatoes. "Uh, I guess I'm sorry about that." The redhead replied as he begun to look a tad bit awkward. He turned towards Fukushima lying prone on the grounds as he prodded the body. "Are you okay?" the redhead inquired with concern in his voice. The boy let out a groan in response. "Maybe… I think I lost a couple years off my life."

As the redhead gathered himself, he peered back at the girls to realize that they were wide-eyed staring at him. "Well," he begun "I'm sorry about this." He reached over to hand back the sword within his other hand, when he noticed something. This… sword? It was the same as the one he had now, the sword left by the brunette!

"Hey?!" the girls exclaimed as the backed away from the redhead that had whipped out the asuachi on his back. "Do you girls know who this belongs to?!" Shirou almost pleaded as his spirits rose up with hope. "The girl who had this wore the same clothing as you girls," he explained "could you girls be friends with her?" The girls looked at each other and looked across the clearing at the boy on the floor.

"Its just an unnamed asauchi…" Eto replied "it could have belonged to anyone." Shirou collapsed on the floor theatrically.

"Haa…" he exhaled "and I thought I had finally gotten a clue." He got up as he nodded to the two girls "Thanks anyways… looks like I'm back on square one."

The blonde looked up as she said "You're never going to find the person you're looking for if the only thing you have is her asauchi. Do you have any other clues?" The redhead replied with a hopeful tone "She was a pale girl with brown hair… she had long eyelashes."

"Oh and she said to find Rangiku. Whatever that is"

The blonde froze as she slowly glanced up at Eto, "Well," she begun slowly as Eto nodded "I know a person called Rangiku. Could you be talking about her?" The redhead practically lit up in pleasure. "Yes! Finally, a clue!"

The redhead begun to babble excitedly "I've been searching for this Rangiku for around 3 months now. 3 months ago, I came across a girl dying from a fight with a hollow. I never got her name, but she told me to find and tell Rangiku." He looked down upon the asauchi with a complex look, "And she had this sword with her. I searched for Rangiku to return this."

The blonde trembled softly, as she realized the situation. "Mai" she breathed out. "Oh, Mai…" she softly murmured as tears began to drip out of her eyes. She started sobbing as held onto the asuachi given by the redhead.

"Uhh…." Shirou, lost for words began to search the other girl's face for some hints. The petite girl just looked pitifully at the blonde as she patted her back. "It'll be alright… at least we found her asauchi." Whispered the petite girl to the sobbing blonde. The blonde collapsed completely, clutching onto the sword as if it was her lifeline. "Mai…Mai…" she whispered as she sobbed almost uncontrollably.

Shirou fidgeted nervously as he realized that something was not right. "Um" he begun, "perhaps was the girl I found, called Mai?" he asked the petite girl.

"Yeah…" she murmured "she was our friend."

Shirou looked uncomfortably towards the boy who was still just now getting up and asked, "Would you know who Rangiku is then?"

"Huh?" the boy looked confusedly up at him. "you're talking to her."

Shirou turned around alarmedly as he became lost for words. He gazed upon the scene of the girl holding the sword crying and reminded himself why he was here.

Shirou knelt in front of the blonde, as he spoke softly "My name is Emiya Shirou. Mai asked me to find you. During her final moments, she remembered you. As she lay dying and the world tumbled around her, she looked for you. And now, she has found you." He gestured towards the asauchi within her grasp.

The blonde slowly gazed at the asuachi with glazed eyes. "…Thank you." She closed her eyes. "And goodbye."


	3. Fate Meeting

"You sure you can get back safely?" Shirou asked as he frowned. "I can escort you home if need be."

Rangiku sniffled as a tentative smile formed. "It's alright… we came out on a mission anyways." She took a quick glance towards her teammates as she realized that they had wasted a significant amount of time. "Let's get going guys," she began slowly. "If we want to make it back to the academy in time for the roll call, we're going to have to run."

"Hey, you're right!" exclaimed Fukushima as he bolted up. "We're going to be late! We have to run!" As the boy begun to run, screaming about how late he would be, Eto turned to give a curious look towards Shirou.

"And what about you?" Eto inquired as she slightly tilted her head. "Are you also looking to be a Shinigami?" Rangiku also turned a curious glance towards the redhead.

Shirou blinked. "No, I _definitely_ do not want to be a death god…" He trailed off as he recalled Archer's twisted look, the painful light within his eyes, and the way Archer seemed like he had just… given up. "I… I am." Shirou began as he remembered Kiritsugu's expression at that fateful day. "I am a hero," He started, steel in his voice. "And _I have no regrets. This is the only path_."

The girls blinked as an eerie presence seemed to blanket the surroundings. Those words… although childish, felt heavy. Rangiku shivered as she looked away from the redhead's unblinking gold eyes.

"And besides," Shirou mused. "I need to find someone."

Rangiku glanced back up at that. "You're still looking for someone?" Maybe there had been another person at the incident? "Who is it?"

Shirou's eyes softened imperceptibly. "She's… someone I knew when I was a human." His voice turned warm as images of _her_ coursed through his mind. "Someone… incredible."

"You have memories from when you were alive?!" Eto blurted out with an incredulous voice. "How young are you?"

Shirou gave the petite girl a confused glance, "Probably 16 or so."

"16?" Both girls let out an incredulous gasp. "You're so young!" Eto blurted out with a disbelieving tone.

"Uhh… and how old are you two?" Shirou asked amusedly.

Rangiku gave the redhead a impish look as she harrumphed. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to ask a girls age?" At Shirou's blank look, she sighed audibly. "I'm 70 years old this year. And Eto-chan is 65."

"Wha-70?" It was Shirou's turn to lay the incredulous stare down at the two girls. "How the- what- but- what?!" As Shirou flustered about, Rangiku turned to glance at Eto as they both got a knowing look on their faces.

"How long have you been dead?" Rangiku asked the flustered boy. The boy's head whipped back so fast, she was sure he had gotten whiplash.

"…huh?" Shirou responded numbly. "…Dead? Is that what I am?"

Now THAT was worrisome. Both girls turned to give each other another worried glance. Rangiku studied the redhaired boy, and she wet her lips as she tried to think of a way to break the news.

"You… died. The fact that you are here in Soul Society, means that you died in the living world and migrated here." Rangiku explained. "Do you remember the Shinigami who brought you here? They should have explained the news before the konso took place."

"No… no I don't." Shirou whispered as he crouched down and clutched his head. "Oh man… Tohsaka is going to kill me…"

Rangiku snorted at that as she looked towards the setting sun. "Well… it is getting late." She began as she turned to Eto. "Let's head back now. We still need to give our report to Kinoko-sensei." She turned back at the dazed boy as he murmured about someone named Sakura and Tohsaka. "And you," she began as the boy in question turned to look up at her. "My name is Matsumoto Rangiku. And thank you for bringing Mai-chan back to me." She looked down at the asauchi and gripped it tighter. Resolution filled her blue eyes. "But I would like Mai-chan to be with you."

"Huh?" returned an even more puzzled Shirou. He scrambled as Rangiku suddenly tossed the asauchi back at him. Once safely back in his hands, he turned to look at Rangiku with a questioning look.

"Mai-chan was someone I loved… and she was a strong person. She wouldn't want to be locked in an old closet collecting dust." Rangiku turned to the asauchi with a troubled look. "Bring her with you and let her protect you." She turned her now amusement filled eyes to the boy. "Besides," she began. "It looks like you'll need it with how clueless you are."

"Uh-" was all Shirou could get out before Rangiku gave Shirou a determined gaze.

"Alright then!" Rangiku exclaimed as she slapped her own cheeks. "Emiya Shirou… I'm sure we'll meet again sometime." She swiveled away from him as she grabbed Eto's hand and began to run. "Come on! We're going to be late Eto-chan!"

"Uwahh- stop-hey!" Eto protested as she was dragged away from the clearing, leaving Shirou to his own, staring at the path with a puzzled face.

"What… just happened." Shirou let out audibly, as he alternated between looking towards the fading backs, and the sword laying in his hands.

He sighed audibly once more, as he stood up straight again and looked at the retreating forms of the two girls.

"Well," he looked down at the asauchi once again. "I guess you're coming with me." His face turned determined as he looked at the glowing sunset. "Back to pursuing endlessly."

"And I hope…" Shirou's eyes glazed as the sun dipped below the horizon.

"That _you_ are there, waiting continuously."

* * *

AN: Thanks for the criticism thebebb and Zombie Overlord. I appreciate it.


	4. Fate Decade

"Hey Kisuke," Yoruichi started as she worked on her paperwork. "Have you heard about the wandering swordsman?"

The blonde looked up as he turned to give his captain a questioning glance. "The wandering swordsman?" Kisuke adopted a thoughtful look as he scratched his chin. "I can't say I have, taichou. Someone you know?"

Yoruichi let out an audible sigh as she turned back to her paperwork. "Well, if I knew him my fist would be up his ass. He gives me way too much paperwork." She let her brush down as she stretched like a cat and sighed exasperatedly. "And the family is giving me hell for not being able to locate him."

Kisuke wagged his eyebrows as his voice gained a mischievous edge. "Oh? Taichou you looking to get married or something?" He wagged his eyebrows once more as he smirked at her. "Should I be worried about my chastity?"

Yoruichi rolled her eyes good naturedly as she chopped down on Kisuke's head. "Idiot, the guy has been creating a storm recently. Almost half of the recruits within the Academy from Rukongai has been saved or helped by the swordsman." She explained. "And none of the squads who have been out looking for him have been able to find him."

Kisuke grew even more confused. "I don't think that's too big of a deal." Hadn't plenty of people avoided Shinigami squads before? "A lot of people in Rukongai dislike the Shinigami so avoiding the patrols isn't too hard."

"Well yeah that wouldn't be that big a deal," she began. "If this hadn't been going on for the past 10 years. And being unable to find a famous individual within Rukongai for 10 whole years?" She glanced up once more to give Kisuke a glance. "That's something only trained individuals can do."

Kisuke hummed once more as he grew silent. "What does he look like?" He asked as his curiosity was successfully piqued. "Do we have a solid image of him?"

"Well, although descriptions of him seem to be highly exaggerated," she said. "He's known to have red hair and an asauchi across his back."

Kisuke sharply turned his head at that. "An asauchi?" He questioned with a sharp glint in his eyes. "Is he a Shinigami reject? Or did he loot one off a Shinigami?"

"We're not sure." Yoruichi answered as she stood up and motioned Kisuke to follow her. "The family is quite sure he wasn't a part of the Academy," She said as she opened the sliding door. "And although there has been a couple of missing academy runts, it's not something we can just assume he had a part in either."

They walked out of the 2nd division barracks and began to shunpo towards the marketplace. "We don't know if he is a threat or a chance." Yoruichi explained as he landed near her. "And while we don't know where he's from or what he even is," she began as they reached the market. "We do know one thing." She entered the nearest bar and motioned him to follow. They reached a table that was close to a window as they sat down.

Kisuke glanced at his captain who had fallen silent. "Which is-?" he inquired as Yoruichi motioned him to be quiet. Taking the hint, he sat down with his captain on the table and ordered some mundane snacks and drinks. As they quieted down, the surrounding people, who had become quiet at the sight of the Shinigami, began to talk again.

Kisuke began to make small talk with his captain as they both listened in on the other conversations.

"Hey, hey," a raspy voice sounded. "Did you hear about that guy?"

Another voice responded, "Yeah your talking about what happened at district 59 right?"

"Damn right I am," the raspy voice continued. "The building that went up in flames went out as fast as it went up. Turns out he was there."

"Man," the other guy answered back. "He strikes again huh. That's the 10th time this year isn't it?" He took a long chug from his drink. "He just gets better and better doesn't he."

"11th if I'm not mistaken," the raspy voice returned. "And he's a true hero." He takes a swift sip as he gains a rough undertone to his voice. "Unlike those garbage pompous Shinigami bastards."

"Woah," the guy's voice took a nervous tone. "Be careful. There are Shinigami here too."

"Those bastards who are always drunk on their fancy alcohol and roll around in money they took from us, can fuck right off." The raspy voice responded irritably. "What are they gonna do? Tax us?" He took another swing of his drink. "They already tax us the maximum amount."

"Quiet down." The 2nd guy responded nervously. "Don't you have a family? What are you gonna do when they go for them?"

"Hmm?" the raspy voice sounded wistful. "I wish they would. Then, the swordsman can come and kick their asses for us." Another swing. "And we can finally be free from their tyranny."

"Dude…" the nervous voice replied. "Although I agree, the words you're saying right now could get everyone in trouble." He paused, as if to look around the bar. "And I have enough trouble on my hands without you stirring people up."

"Sigh…" the raspy voice took a depressing tilt. "If only we could find the guy. He could save us all from the Shinigami." Another swing. "Rule the world, fairly."

"You're really drunk my friend," the nervous voice chuckled. "Let's get you home. Your wife should be worried."

As they paid the bill and left stumbling out of the bar, Kisuke and Yoruichi exchanged worried glances.

"The wandering swordsman… is he a hero?" Yoruichi began as she fingered her drink. "Or someone who will bring forth a revolution?" She gained a tentative look.

"Either way," she glanced up at Kisuke. "He's a catalyst for _change_."

Kisuke mused quietly. "And change…" he began as he took a sip from his drink. " _is dangerous._ "

* * *

He awakened to the musky smell of the damp forest. With a trickling stream nearby, the cool breeze and the moisture in the air combined to make a pleasant temperature for the morning. He stretched as he walked out of his makeshift shelter. He walked over to the fire and began to prepare himself breakfast with half of a rabbit that he had caught yesterday.

He still laughed at that thought. Who would have known that there would be animals to catch in the afterlife? Well then again, he hadn't expected to need to eat in the afterlife either. Even 10 years hadn't been enough for Shirou to become completely acquainted with the fact that he had died, not when he could still feel so _alive_.

He shook his head as the rabbit begun to crisp to a golden color. With the herbs he had picked up along the way, the rabbit would make an excellent breakfast and would last him the day if he conserved his energy.

As he began to eat, he took out Mia and began to do some maintenance. Although the sword refused to be traced, he could feel it change day after day. Becoming filled with steel, with swords, with… himself. He shook his head as he brought himself out of his thoughts. Although the sword had steadily become more like himself, nothing had happened to it, at least not yet.

He finished his breakfast and his maintenance and rose from his seat. Putting the fire out, he completely hid his tracks and started his trek back to the closest town. During the 10 years he had been living in Rukongai, he had come to realize that the people who lived here had very poor living standards. Aside from the disctricts closest to Seireitei, people lived harsh lives in the afterlife.

Shirou being Shirou, couldn't just watch people suffer. So, he began to feed people, help people, _save_ people. And even though this delayed his meeting with _her,_ he couldn't stop. _She_ would just have to wait even more continuously, and he would have to pursue even more tirelessly.

As he reached the town, the people began to take notice of him and came rushing out of their homes. "Swordsman-sama!" they shouted as they crowded closer to him. "Hero-sama!" yelled the young kids as they rushed out excitedly to meet their hero.

Shirou crouched down to smile at the kids and ruffled their hair. "Have you guys been doing well?" he inquired as he studied the way the adults looked. "Its been a while since I've come to the 50th district."

The people exchanged happy glances as they turned back to him. An elder took his hand as he began to talk. "We have had no troubles ever since you dealt with those bandits." His expression hardened. "But we did hear that in district 43 a common cold is running amok."

As Shirou's eyes narrowed the elder continued. "Already a 5th of the people have either fallen sick or have become prey to the disease." The elder closed his eyes as he struggled to hold his emotions. "My cousins live there…" he gathered himself back as he sobbed. "Could you please help them oh great hero."

Shirou glanced at the elder, and his sobbing visage. He glanced to the people, all trying their best not to cry and show weakness to their hero. He glanced to the kids, who stared back with hope filled in their eyes.

"And the Shinigami?" Shirou asked as he turned back to the elder. "Have you talked to a Shinigami?"

The village elder took a deep breath as if to control his emotions. "The Shinigami… asked if we had money." He closed his eyes as if recalling a painful memory. "And after we had given all we could…" Another deep breath. "We have not heard of them since."

Shirou's jaw clenched as his hand formed a fist. "Alright." He began as the townspeople looked up at him. "I'll go right now to help out district 43." He took out his backpack and began to rummage through the contents. "And take this, to compensate for the Shinigami." Shirou handed out a pouch full of coins. "Make sure to share with each other."

The townspeople's eyes watered. No words came out from the people this time. There was no need for words. They could only silently stare, as Shirou got back up and began his trek back to the forest in the direction of district 43.

"I promise," Shirou stated as he suddenly turned around at the entrance of the forest. "That I will save them." He gave another affirmative nod, as he jumped into a run.

The townspeople gathered up as they watched their hero fade away.

Their eyes glistened. With tears… and hope.

* * *

Rangiku sighed as she slumped down. "Shiba-taichou…" she began, almost pitifully. "Why am I doing your paperwork?" She inquired as she confusedly stamped another paper with a reject sign. Her captain Shiba Isshin, looked up at her.

"Hahahaha!" Isshin-taichou responded with his signature grin. "It's all practice for when you become my lieutenant in the future." He explained as he too stamped down a reject sign on another paper. "And besides, shouldn't you be happy to be talking with the captain only 2 years after you joined my squad?"

She looked up at the captain with a wary glance. "I would be happy taichou… if I knew why you picked me." She rolled her eyes as he began to make excuses. "And don't give me that crap about picking me for my talents taichou." She gave Isshin-taichou a dead pan glare. "You suck at lying."

Isshin-taichou looked up with a heavy grin as his eyes began to glint. "Do you really want to know why? I wasn't lying when I told you it was for your talents you know." He began to explain. As she perked up at the answer, Isshin knew he had caught her. "ITS BECAUSE YOUR SEX-" a fist came crashing down on top of his head bringing his reasoning to a halt.

"STOP BRINGING OUT MY SEX APPEAL YOU MISOGYNISTIC PIG!" she ranted as she started to pummel the poor captain. Honestly, her captain was so stupid sometimes. She could never really understand him, or at least his personality outside of his blatant tardiness and perverseness. She sighed as she rubbed her temples. "Honestly, taichou sometimes I wonder why I joined this division."

"Hey!" Her taichou began, "I resent that." She rolled her eyes as he began to protest. "And especially when I called you here for a mission!"

"Mission?" Rangiku blinked as she took the information in. "What mission?"

Isshin-taichou grinned as he brought out a scroll. "This is a legendary mission! A mission that had begun 10 years ago, with the Tenshiheisōban, the Shihōin Clan, at the very lead!" He opened the scroll as light began to shine from it miraculously. "A legendary mission that was so hard, nobody could clear it within those 10 years, and your mission to become my 7th seat!"

She gasped audibly as she took in the glowing scroll with reverence in her eyes. "My promotion mission…" her voice trembled as she took in the glory of the mission. "An impossible mission, a decade old mission…" her eyes began to water. "It's…it's…it's?" Her voice took a confused tilt. "A search mission?" she finished with a disbelieving stare.

"Indeed," Isshin-taichou began to nod approvingly. "A search mission for the legendary local hero of Rukongai, the 'Wandering Swordsman'."

Rangiku read the description as she ignored the rambling old man. "Red-haired… holding an asauchi…" she muttered as she brought her hand to her chin. "Isn't this just a description of Shirou?" she mused quietly as she began to recall the strange meeting with Shirou 10 years ago.

Suddenly, everything became quiet. "…Who?" Isshin asked with a serious gaze.

The quick change in the atmosphere startled Rangiku as she jumped. Noticing Isshin-taichou's serious demeanor, she squeaked as he quickly approached her.

"Who?" He repeated once more, more intensely.

"Ah," she began as she tried to gather herself. "Shirou? He's someone I met a decade ago." She turned pale at the face Isshin-taichou gave her. "Ah… I also kind of gave him an asauchi as well." An even more blistering gaze. "I mean-I ah-" She stumbled as she tried to think of a way out of this.

"You," Isshin began. "Have a lot of explaining to do."


	5. Fate Awaken

A sigh broke the silence.

"…And you never told anyone about this?" Isshin-taichou asked as he levelled Rangiku with an uncharacteristic solemn gaze.

"Uh…" Rangiku began once more. "No one other than Eto-chan and Fukushima-kun who were there with me."

Isshin-taichou grasped his chin as he let out a contemplative hum. "And this, 'Shirou', guy… was he dangerous?"

She must've looked fairly amused because Isshin-taichou's visage grew stern once more.

"N-No SIR!" Rangiku bellowed, hoping her loud demeanor would instill more confidence in her voice. "Like I explained before, he looked as clueless as a newly born plus, taichou." She grew a thoughtful look as she realized the truth of her statement. "He probably was one too."

Isshin-taichou gave another alarmed glance at that. "Are you telling me," He brought out a large binder with several papers sticking out and took a deep breath. "…You mean to tell me he was newborn just a decade ago," He opened the binder and revealed the impressive amount of papers. "And has already caused this much chaos?"

Rangiku blinked. "Uhh, chaos?" She began, unsure how that word could correlate to the awkward but sincere soul she had met a decade ago. "He seemed like a clueless newborn soul to me."

Isshin-taichou studied her for a second and sighed as he began to explain. "In the last decade, an unknown anomaly appeared. People started to report of an unsung hero that roamed rukongai. He who was kind, strong, and more importantly." He gave her a knowing glance. "One of them."

"…" She remained silent as she remembered her own painful experiences in rukongai. Those days were filled with silent hate. A hate that would encompass everything and would blame anything. "...I can see why that would be a problem."

Isshin-taichou sighed as he turned back to the binder. "Nobody is really sure what this guy wants. Or what he needs." He sighs once more as he closes the binder. "But we do know one thing." His eyes turn cold.

"He's an uncontrolled factor." Isshin-taichou began as Rangiku gulped at the ominous statement. "And that's unacceptable for Central 46."

* * *

Rangiku slumped down into her chair and audibly sighed. She stared up at the ceiling, as images of old memories arose. Memories of a redhead, of an asauchi, of _her._ She slowly brought her hand up to her face as she groaned into it.

"What have I done…" she whimpered. "What am I supposed to do…"

"Hmm?" a mischievous tone rang out. "What did my little Ran-chan do now?"

"KYAA!" Rangiku screeched as she jumped out of her seat. She turned to find her best friend, owner of the mischievous voice, Ichimaru Gin, smiling at her from her bed.

"W-w-what were you doing there?" She said fumbling her words.

Gin's eyes narrowed as he took a second to sweep a glance over her. "Hm," he began cautiously. "I just came to visit." He studied her once more. "But seems like you need some help."

Rangiku began to sweat. "Me?" she gave a hopefully confident look towards Gin. "Pssh, I don't need help." Oh god, she cringed at her voice that took a nervous tilt. "I've never needed help before. And I certainly don't nee-" She stopped as she caught a glance of Gins opened eyes.

"… Sorry." She sighed audibly as she gave in. "Yeah, Gin I need some help."

"Now was that so hard?" He gave her a cheeky grin as he leaned forward. "Now what's the problem? Surely it can't be too bad."

"Well," Rangiku swallowed as she bought more time. "I need to go and see an old friend."

Gin blinked. "Huh? That doesn't seem so-"

"Who may or may not be the messiah figure to a new revolutionary army intending to take down Seireitei and Central 46." She finished bluntly.

Another blink. A sigh. "And here I thought I was the one having trouble with revolutions." He muttered under his breath as he gave another large sigh. His day had just gotten a lot longer.

* * *

Shirou warily checked his surroundings as he stalked the hollow. This one resembled a bear and had begun to take a nap. He weighed the pros and the cons of fighting the bear hollow. He shook his head. Too much risk, not enough reward. It would be foolish to poke a sleeping hollow, especially when he had people to save.

He passed by the hollow as he took off once again in the direction of district 43. He was now nearing the district, as he passed by district 46 not too long ago. He stopped to get the needed medicine for the townspeople in district 43 and hoped that he had bought enough for everyone.

"Still," he began as he glanced at his sword. "I do need to find someone to talk about you as well."

The sword hummed as he began to realize that maybe an outbreak wasn't the worst of his problems.

When the sword had responded to his internal musings for the first time, he had almost demolished the surrounding clearing with a noble phantasm. It took him a while to realize that the incessant humming was coming from the sword _and his mind_ -which still made no sense to him- and had destroyed most of his surroundings by the time he could control himself.

Unbeknownst to him, his little show was seen by villagers from the nearest district. This day would be called the day of the fire dragon and would be celebrated every year to appease the mighty dragon.

From what he could gather so far, the sword that had been slowly absorbing his presence and swords had finally awoken. He was still unsure if this was true, but he had slowly accepted the situation when he began dream cycles again.

Dream cycles… they reminded him of a time long ago. Of golden hair, and a regal blue dress. Those determined eyes… and that beautiful soul. Still waiting. Still pursuing.

He shook his head as he brought it back on track. The new dream cycles were different. All he could see was an endless expanse of swords, his reality marble. And in the middle of the marble, on the highest hill, was a new addition. He couldn't quite remember what he had seen at the time and he had no time for sleep recently, but he could vaguely remember a color.

An iridescent light spilling from the outlines of… Shirou grimaced as he drew another blank. He shook his head again, as he tried to focus on the task at hand.

Run. Get to district 43. _Save people_.

A warm feeling suffused his chest. Yes. Was there a need to think of anything else, when he needed to save people? Even if it ripped him apart until he became a glimmer of what he once was. Even if he became _Archer_. There were people to be saved.

And he- was a hero.


	6. Fate Persimmon

Kisuke looked up at his captain in mild shock. "…You're sending off a kid that's been out of the academy for only two years now?" He took a moment, as if to grasp the idea within his head completely. "To find the guy who avoided your family for a decade?"

Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "Yeah." She replied as she gave him a chance to gather his thoughts. When it looked like he would start protesting again, she smacked him in the back of the head. "Have you even read the mission statement?" She began crossly as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. She audibly sighed as she explained. "The guy probably isn't the best at escaping from our eyes." She brought out the mission scroll and unraveled it. "If you look towards the beginning of the rumors, we were able to find his tracks almost pitifully easily." She explained as she pointed out many different occasions within the scroll. "But back then, he must have gotten a lot of help from the townspeople. He somehow managed to hide from our regular patrols and the academy students who went to find him." She shook her head at the though of those patrols. "And the kids who were sent," she began as she rolled her eyes again. "Do you really think they would try and scour every part of the village?"

Kisuke allowed his thoughts to drift to the academy kids. "Well," he began as he remembered how they would laze about. "…probably not." He finished with a slump. "But what about our patrols?" He gave as he perked up once more. "They should have been able to find him. Or at least find his reiatsu signature?"

Yoruichi's face soured. "We have had a couple people who have felt what appeared to be his reiatsu." She began slowly. Before Kisuke could even ask, she shot him a wary look. "But it always vanished a couple minutes later." She looked down at the mission scroll once more, no doubt reading the report of one such occasion. "Almost as if he turned on a switch. And then turned it off."

Kisuke blinked at that. "Turned it off? Like a switch?" He began with an incredulous tone. "Someone with as much mastery over his reiatsu like that…"

The atmosphere became solemn once more.

Yoruichi sighed once more. "I just wish we had gotten the mission before the kids." She grasped her brush with hate. "We would have caught him before he could give me this much paperwork."

Kisuke rolled his eyes good naturedly. "And why are you sending a baby out of the academy?" He asked amusedly. "Instead of going yourself?"

This time, Yoruichi also rolled her eyes. "I would go," she began. "If it wasn't for the family."

At Kisuke's questioning glance, she pulled her finger up and made the universal crazy sign. "They want me to meet people to 'marry'." She finished with a grimace.

Kisuke's grin widened at that. "Marry?" he began, barely able to stop his laughter. "You?" he tried again as laughter started to trickle out of the hands covering his mouth.

She gave him a deadpan stare. "Careful," she whispered with a mischievous tone. "You might be one of the candidates." He stopped completely. "And," she licked her lips as he gulped. "Wouldn't that be fun? Eh, _Ki-su-ke_?"

"Um- uh- yeah- su-NO-YES!" he blurted out as she stared into his eyes. "I mean," he said as he tried to buy time. "…Sorry?" he ended as he slumped his head.

Yoruichi giggled as she took in the picture. "It's fine." She rolled her eyes at his relief. "I don't want to marry anyways." She grew a solemn look at that. "And even if I did, I'll make sure to avoid you."

Kisuke grew a frown at that. "…Ok." He responded even as he felt something bothering him.

Yoruichi, oh ever so observant, caught that. With a shit eating grin, she caught his gaze once more. "Oh?" she began as they locked eyes. "Feeling jealous?"

Kisuke rolled his eyes. "Let's get back on topic." Even as she pouted. And was she always that cute when she pouted? "Why are you sending a baby on the trip?"

Yoruichi grinned. "She's not much more of a baby than you are." She laughed at his scowl. "But seriously," she began with a serious voice. "She came from Rukongai." She continued as understanding dawned on Kisuke's face. "And she knows how to get around."

She looked down on the scroll again. "And besides," Kisuke looked down as well. "He's begun to move out of the more dangerous zones. It looks like he's moving towards the more civilized districts, we should be able to catch him with her experience within the 40th districts."

Kisuke grew a suspicious look. "And there's no other reason?" He started as his suspicion began to grow. Yoruichi wasn't one to send kids if she could help it. "At all?"

Yoruichi's famous grin appeared once more.

"No other reason." Another grin, wider than the one before.

"At all."

* * *

Birds chirped in the air as she gave out a nice long sigh of contentment. Rangiku stretched as the energy filled within her bones.

"Ah," a chirpy voice let out. "What a beautiful sight."

She grew an annoyed vein as she let out a backhand without looking behind her. Isshin-taichou flew back as he smashed into the wall. With him out of the picture, the atmosphere felt right again as another content sigh was released.

"Hey!" Isshin-taichou protested as he dragged himself out of the wall. "I meant the sun!"

She gave him a hard look.

"The sun… of your perky-" was all he was able to get out before she stomped his head back into the hole.

She sighed as she lamented her future within the squad.

She looked out at the sun. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would have to leave on her mission. It was time for her to go and find Shirou and Mai.

Her memories once again went to that faithful day. "I did tell him we would meet again someday." She mused at the memories. "I guess that day is coming soon."

She looked back at the hole she had made with Isshin-taichou's face. "Is it really alright to bring any one person with me?"

Isshin-taichou's voice grew stern. "As long as he isn't from our squad." He began as his voice grew even more solemn. "Then I wouldn't have anyone to do my paperwo-". Another crash. Rangiku sighed as she looked back up to the sun, worried of the next mission.

"But all jokes aside," Isshin-taichou began. "Be careful out there." He gave her an unreadable look. It made her uncomfortable to see the exuberant face she had seen for 2 years become so hard to decipher. "Time changes a man." He began once more as his voice became nostalgic. "He might not be the same man he was a decade ago." He raised his head to look up to her. "Especially if he lived somewhere like Rukongai."

Silence filled the air.

"I'm taking Gin." Rangiku's words cut through the silence.

Isshin-taichou grew contemplative. "Shinji's squad huh…" he mused quietly.

"Hm?" She gave a questioning look back to her captain. "What's wrong with Hirako-taichou's squad?"

Isshin-taichou scratched his sideburns. "Well," he began, collecting his thoughts. "Shinji has the odd… habit, of keeping his friends close, but his enemies closer."

"Take what you will from that." He finished as he gave her another solemn glance.

She shuddered at the ominous words. "…" She tried to find the words. "Gin's a friend." She ended, much more confidently than she had begun.

"Hm." Isshin-taichou hummed softly. "Okay."

She hoped she looked as confident as she sounded.

* * *

"And why," he started. "Are we dressing up like this?" He finished as he scowled at the disguise he was given.

"Because we're supposed to be blending in with the crowd." Rangiku explained as she rolled her eyes. "I thought I was the fashion queen here." Gin looked very uncomfortable to be called a fashion queen. She grinned at the thought. "And it's only for as long as we need to find him."

Gin gave her a stare. "He's been hiding. For 10 years."

She gave him an unsteady smile. "Well," she began even as he looked unimpressed. "I remember what he looks like at least?"

Gin gave out a large sigh as he put on the disguise. Shabby clothes, a sandal, and an even shabbier hat. "Do you remember anything he said to you?" He asked as he gathered the rest of his supplies. "Anything that we could use to find him?"

Rangiku let out a troubled sigh. "Not really." Her eyes glazed as her mind travelled back to that day. "Oh," she began. "I do remember one thing."

As Gin turned to her, she explained. "He was looking for someone. A girl."

Gin pursed his lips. "And?" he began impatiently.

She shook her head. "Nothing else. He didn't mention any thing about her."

Gin sighed again. "I guess we have nothing."

"Hey," she protested. "At least we have a general direction."

Gin sighed strongly once more. "Him being between the 40th district and the 50th district isn't much."

Rangiku gave a troubled laugh. "At least, it's something? Besides, how hard can it be?"

They both sighed this time.

* * *

40th District.

"Excuse me." She began as she prayed for an actual answer. "Have you seen the hero recently?"

"Huh?" The storekeeper studied her form for a second, eyes flickering between her sword and her outfit. "…No." He ended as he seemed to have come to a conclusion. "And you can get out if you're not buying anything."

Rangiku sighed once more. She left the store, hoping for good news from Gin.

Gin was waiting outside, apparently having finished searching for information from the bar.

"Doesn't seem like he's here." He began as she slumped. "But I did hear something interesting."

She perked up at that. "Really?" Any news at this point would be good news. "What did you hear?"

Gin smirked at her enthusiasm. "There's been an epidemic at the next district." He began as he smiled genuinely. "That means he's most likely not there and we can skip that district." She stopped at the ominous words. "The very fact that the epidemic hasn't seen any results can only mean one thing," he explained at her look. "That he's not there yet."

She turned to look at Gin for what she felt was the first time in a long time. She studied his face and his genuine smile. The smile that slanted slightly, the cold eyes, and the even colder atmosphere. She gritted her teeth.

"So, you would just let those kids die?" She began slowly as old memories arose.

Gin frowned. "We have a mission." He said softly as he grabbed her hand. "We can't afford to lose the one trail we have."

She ground her teeth, as if she was attempting to break them. "So," she began, infuriated. "You, who lived like those people. You, who saved the _me_ , who was one of those people. You, who can _save_ those people." She said with a vengeance. "Would just leave them to die?"

"Ran-" was all he could get out before she shoved him roughly. "You can go ahead and look for him then." She finished with an almost disgusted look on her face.

"Ill go and help the sick."

She stormed off as he sighed. Even as memories of those times began to fill his mind, Gin could only stand there and stare at Rangiku's retreating form.

He shook his head. "What have I gotten myself into." He lamented as he walked to the direction of district 42.

An orange light caught his eyes. A persimmon hung from a tree right above him. The orange light as the sun pierced the fruit seemed to give the fruit an otherworldly appearance. Memories struck him as the persimmon swayed gently in the wind.

As if an act by the soul king, the persimmon fell directly on top of his head before tumbling down onto the ground. He leaned down and studied the persimmon, which had grown dirty from the fall. He picked it up and studied it once more in his hands.

"Sigh." He dusted off the persimmon as he pocketed the orange fruit.

He slowly followed after Rangiku.

* * *

AN: Thanks for all the reviews and favorites. We hit over 50 favorites and 100 bookmarks! Like I said, this is my first story so I'm sorry for any mistakes. I know I can get a lot better, so I appreciate it. Thanks for the reviews, it really helps me grow.

ZeroDarkNex14: Sorry about the short chapters, I'll try and make them longer in the future. In chapter 1 of the story, I said Shirou made a mundane sword mainly because I thought Shirou would not have made Kanshou and Bakuya if he had just finished an intensive fight with Gilgamesh. At least, that's my reasoning behind it, I can understand your confusion. Also, he has not really fought with any Shinigami. He's mostly stuck to hiding from them with the help of villagers and moving towards the far districts where the Shinigami don't go to. I attribute it to his luck.

: Uhh, don't really know Spanish but I ran it through a translating system. So yeah, he will have a similar power. :D


	7. Fate Mother

"Honestly," she spat out loud as she stormed out of the town. "Where did the boy I used to know go?"

Even as her heart started to burn from the ache that was assaulting her senses, she could feel him slowly trailing her path. She huffed as she perked up at the action. "Finally," she began as she rolled her eyes. "Some sense has been knocked back into his head."

She walked slower, to allow Gin to catch up with her as she returned to the road. She frowned as memories surfaced. Of times when Gin would abandon her and do stupid things. When he would choose to avoid the topic with her and decide on important issues alone. As the memories rose up, she began to feel anger again. Deciding that she had had enough from stupid boys and stupid emotions, she began to trek slightly faster. Better for her not to see Gin while she was still mad.

That's when she saw it. Or more correctly, her.

A young girl lay coughing against a tree. Her form was small, and more importantly, weary. She held onto a pouch of coins as if it were her lifeline.

Her first thought was beggar. Only until she had seen the rashes and the pale face, did she realize that the girl was sick.

She had no sandals. She had little clothes. How did she have a pouch of coins?

As she slowed down to approach the kid, she realized something important.

This was the road to district 43.

"…" She crouched down to hold the little girl's hand. The girl tried to raise her head, only for it to fall back down. She tries again. Another fail. The girl gave up trying to raise her head.

A whisper. "…o-o-ne-e-ch-an-n."

A pang of pain. "What is it kid?" Tears threatened to spill as she gripped the girl's hand stronger, as if the strength would be transferred to the young girl.

A wheeze sounded in the cold air as the girl tried to respond. "O-o-ka-a-a…" The little girl mumbled as she tried to finish her words.

The girl's eyes, too dull for tears, looked straight into her own. As if locked by some strange force, Rangiku was unable to tear her eyes away. She watched as the feeble young girl slowly but surely died. The final remnants of her warmth slowly melting away, as her body limped down even further.

A hand gripped her shoulder. She didn't need to look over to know who it was.

"Gin." She let out as she gritted her teeth. "We have to save her." She managed, more of an order than a statement.

"Rangiku." No longer using her pet name, Gin clenched his fists. "She's gone."

Rangiku turned slowly, taking in Gin's visage as she ground her teeth hard enough for it to crack. "…" She tried to breath slowly and lower her rising temper. "Do you think I don't know that?" She said, earning a pitiful glance from Gin.

It reminded her of the time when Gin had saved her own life. When she had called his name out and wondered at the oddity of it. That same pity that had saved her from her hell. Pity… that was no longer needed.

She slapped his hand off her shoulder as she turned back to the kid. "I'll take you back to your kaa-san, ok?" She gathered her strength as she took a deep breath. "I'll save you." Taking one last look of her eyes, the same eyes that should have held the determination to try and escape to another district, she closed them.

"Let's get you back home."

Gin looked on as he watched her slowly pick the kid up. He should have mentioned the epidemic, of the dangers of carrying that kid. Of how dangerous the kid's illness was. Of how she wouldn't be able to run well with the kid in her arms. Of how she wouldn't be able to fight with her arms occupied. Of how the Wandering Swordsman might not be so forgiving.

Of how her heart would be broken when she looked into the mother's eyes and explained what had happened to her kid.

Instead, he watched her. Unable to say anything even as Rangiku took another shaky breath and began to walk.

The persimmon in his pocket felt unusually cold.

* * *

A cough. Another. Another. Coughs echoed into the air, as if a symphony of the dead were playing. Rangiku grimaced at the face of the children as they feebly raised their eyes to meet hers.

Brown. Hazel, green, blue, and gray eyes. They looked up at her. And instead of the hope that should have filled their eyes with the arrival of Shinigami- there was nothing.

Nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing and she could feel herself becoming angry at the mere sight of it. What had happened here? How did a sudden epidemic spread this fast? Why had it only affected this district? Why had no one tried to help? Where were the Shinigami on patrol?

A glance down.

The look of the kid in her arms reminded her that for the time being, she had a task to carry out.

The villagers began to gather as the news of their appearance spread. All of the people left in the district, those who were unable to escape from the district in time, eventually gathered up.

They glanced at the Shinigami's sword fearfully. Although they weren't wearing the Shinigami's robe, the sword was all too easy to notice. They gave the strangers a wide berth as the man who was left in charge began to push his way to the front of the growing crowd.

Rangiku watched as the people parted slowly. Watched as the people in the front moved away and people in the back who were too weak to watch the situation were revealed. Of how everyone winced at every step, and how coughs seemed to explode out of any movement.

Behind her, Gin took a stance that would allow him to stop anyone from making any sudden movements. While he wouldn't care much of losses for the long term, Rangiku would _never_ be such a thing.

The leader finally made his way to the front as Rangiku winced at his condition. Frail, rashes, scratches, and pale skin all pointed to the fact that the leader was on the verge of death. He raised his finger, something that seemed to take much energy, and pointed at them.

"No money." He grunted out. "The last patrol took the last of it."

She let out an unsteady breath at that.

"We're not looking for money." She slowly let out as she rubbed her temples. "We're here to help. And to find this girl's mother."

They looked even more unsettled at that. Exchanging uneasy glances as they studied the two.

"Shinigami… helping?" The leader began, as if trying to wrap his mind around it. "For free?"

She grit her teeth as she vowed to catch whichever squad was responsible for this.

"We're not monsters." She began slowly, as if afraid any sudden movements or words would confuse them. "We shouldn't be charging more than the yearly tax."

The villagers exchanged almost amused looks at that. "Ok." The leader agreed as if he didn't believe in them but was unable to argue with them.

The leader looked down at the girl in her arms. "That's…" He paused as he tried to connect a name to the face. "…Probably Minna." He finished as he studied the body sadly. "We'll have to go and find her mother, Ghina." Rangiku kneeled to face the sick man more properly.

"Where would I find her?" Rangiku asked as a strange emotion filled her. "I need to… return… Minna."

The leader gave her a sad smile. "You look nice." He paused as words seemed to leave him.

"Maybe you're different."

Rangiku's gaze lowered as she struggled to lift her eyes. The girls face seemed troubled even while dead, as if she hadn't finished her purpose. "No." She responded as she looked back up with determined but sad eyes.

"She was strong."

The leader nodded. He spared a glance at the man behind the kind woman.

Gin quietly stared.

The leader jumped as the slits of Gin's eyes opened. Those blue eyes… he couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away from them. And as he stared at him, Gin slowly mouthed.

 _Watch. Your. Self._

And suddenly his back was drenched with sweat as his body refused to move. Even as he slowly lost himself into those inhuman eyes, his body trembled with a primal fear. Those eyes tore his soul apart with just a stare, as he became prey to the snake. And _only_ when the female Shinigami got curious at his terrified expression and had turned around.

And everything had become normal again.

Had he realized, that no matter how nice they seem.

They will never be one of them.

* * *

Rangiku glared at Gin suspiciously as he smiled widely back at her.

"…Did you do something?" She asked as she pierced his smile with her glare.

Gin's smile became even wider. "Of course not." Gin turned his attention back to the leader of the village. "Right?"

The leader laughed nervously as he quickly replied "Of course not! Of course not. Of course, not…"

Rangiku narrowed her eyes as she alternated between suspiciously glaring at gin and concernedly glancing at the leader.

She sighed audibly as she gave up. "I'm Matsumoto Rangiku. What's your name?" She inquired as she turned back to the leader.

"I'm Yirumo Shino." He replied slowly. "But we should go and bring Minna to Ghina."

He raised his frail arms as he stroked Minna's hair. "She was so determined to bring the medicine for our village and her mom." He sighed as he seemed to visibly age before her very eyes. "I should not have let her go."

Rangiku bit her lip as tears threatened to form. Memories of when she was young and bold surfaced. She was lucky. She met Gin before she died.

Minna had not.

As Rangiku lamented the girl's fate, Gin interrupted the tense moment.

"The girl has died." He began with an unreadable voice. "But you haven't yet."

Gin turned slowly but steadily to meet every villager's eye. "You haven't been killed yet. You aren't dead. And sometimes."

"That's all that matters."

The villagers' eyes that had been dead up until that point grew something unexplainable. It wasn't there yet, at least not completely, but their eyes changed. They clenched their hands and stared at their fists.

That's right. They weren't dead yet.

Why had they forgotten that?

Tears slowly began to form within their eyes. The villagers exchanged glances with each other. With their loved ones. With neighbors. With strangers. And they realized.

It wasn't over yet.

"SMACK"

The villagers jumped at the loud sound.

Rangiku slowly got up from where she was crouching, her palms on her cheeks. A wide smile formed as she grinned at Gin's nonchalant face. "ALRIGHT!" She exclaimed loudly. "Let's take Minna to Ghina." She turned to smile at the villagers. "And see what we can do to help you guys as well."

The villagers stared at the young woman. And then,

"Osu!"

* * *

Shirou clicked his tongue as the hollow spun around to try and chase after him. He gave it a glance as he sprinted across the forest. Unfortunately, it seemed like this hollow was hell bent on eating him. He sighed as he turned around to get a slash on the creature's mask.

The creature spun as it tried to avoid the swing. Shirou growled when the creature successfully dodged the swing and swung back at him with blinding speed. He had half hoped that he could get this over with quickly to finally reach district 43. It was taking him much too long to get there and he feared by the time he had arrived, that he would be too late.

As the creature seemed to growl with delight when he fought back, Shirou slowly became more annoyed. With him running on no sleep for the past 3 days and being slowly consumed with worry over the situation in district 43, his emotions were beginning to get to him. He reached out with his free hand curled, as if it was gripping something.

"Trace On."

A statement to the world. As reiatsu began to form within his hands, the hollow blinked in surprise.

It growled as it tried to leap back and escape from what it assumed was a kido. Instead, a beautiful black sword appeared within Shirou's hand, long enough to be right across the hollow's face when fully formed.

The hollow's eyes widened in surprise as it began to backpaddle. Unfortunately for the hollow, it was too little too late. The black sword cut across the mask instantly, leaving the hollow disintegrating.

Shirou sighed as he eyed Kanshou within his hand. He hadn't wanted to waste any mana with how tired he was quickly becoming, but if he wanted to get rid of the hollow as fast as possible, he had no choice.

He turned back towards the direction of the district 43. It was only 20 minutes away. Determination filled his eyes as Shirou resumed his sprint.

Time to _save lives_.

* * *

As Rangiku and Gin neared the dilapidated house, she began to feel nervous. She glanced down towards where Minna rested, looking as if she was asleep. She dreaded to meet Ghina, who would have birthed this child, and give her Minna back, dead. The door she was steadily becoming closer to, slowly began to remind her of the doors that lead to the central 46 trial room.

And as she and Gin arrived at the door, they both studied it silently. They could hear some movements inside, a clang as pots moved and a rustle as clothing tumbled with the air. She took a deep breath. She could do this. Taking a quick peek at Gin to regain some confidence, she spied a small frown. Huh, so he _was_ afraid of somethings. Good to know.

She slowly raised her hand to knock on the door. Before she could, Gin grasped her hand and shot her a look. One that said,

"Are you sure?"

It took her a while to realize that he had voiced the question as well. And another moment, to realize the answer.

"Knock knock knock." The sounds of the knocks were like heavy shackles that chained her hands and her spirit down with each knock. And as the clanging stopped and clothes rustled once more, she waited with dread.

A weak voice. "Hello...?" The door opened to show a sickly woman who was clearly on her last foot. The woman's eyes caught Minna's prone form before she could get out a response and she knew that the woman was no longer capable of hearing anything. With wide eyes that trembled with familiarity, sorrow, and despair, she flung open the door as she toppled on top of Minna.

"OH MINNA." She screamed her hoarse voice as she began to sob. "MINNA MINNA MINNA MINNA MINNA!" She broke down as she caressed Minna's still face.

Rangiku chewed her cheek as she silently stood by. Watching this, she felt two large emotions take over her. Regret in having not been there sooner for Minna. And jealousy… at the bond that the two had seemed to have.

As disgust of herself filled her mind, Gin patted Rangiku on the back. "It's fine." He began with nary a glance. "It's fine."

She chuckled even as tears ran down her face. Count on Gin to know her every feeling and emotion. Even when she could never understand Gin, he seemed to always know everything about her. It made her feel more disgusted at herself, someone who always received. But never gave.

"Let's go." She replied to Gin even as she couldn't tear her eyes off the figure of the crying mother. "We don't belong here."

And as Gin opened the door. It happened.

A mighty screech.

A mightier thud.

Outside of the house stood a man. One dressed casually with clothes that were comfortable but easy to move in. One with red hair and golden eyes. With an asauchi across his back and his messy hair, he cut an imposing figure.

The Wandering Swordsman.

The Hero.

* * *

AN: Hey we hit 100 favorites and 150 bookmarks! As usual, thanks for the reviews!

iRouge III: By the time Shirou got there, she was really only half a body. And while avalon is great at healing, its not that good. Especially without Arturia.

adislt: The girl he is searching for is Arturia. He mentions to her in their meeting that he was looking a girl that I kinda sorta implied to be Arturia. I'm sorry if it confused you.

ZeroDarkNex14: He is indeed still a reincarnation. He can still trace noble phantasms. He still has UBW. :D


	8. Fate Avalon

Silence permeated the area. Cold winds blew through the now open door as both Rangiku and Gin stared at the new figure. Rangiku almost couldn't believe her eyes. A redheaded figure watched them both carefully, as he no doubt calculated the risks of entering in combat with them. The redheaded figure that they were looking for.

And as he narrowed his eyes, both Rangiku and Gin jumped into action. Her sword made a clean shrill as she dragged it out of its sheath and she jumped between the newcomer and the frail mother. She wouldn't let anything happen to the poor old mother. Not when she was here… too much had already happened to her.

Gin on the other hand calmly placed his hand on his sword as he readied himself to swing at any given moment or reaction. Crouching slightly in a ready position, his eyes narrowed to slits as he gave his custom grin to the redhead.

The redhead that was currently studying them silently. And at the sword of both Gin and Rangiku as they fingered the hilts. The redhead's golden eyes met theirs for just a glance, and Rangiku realized why the saying 'Eyes are the windows to the soul' existed. The redhead- no Shirou's, eyes… they were inexplicably cold and warm at the same time. Warm light to seemed to seep from the surface, to give hope and strength to the near. But at the same time, steel seemed to reside in the darkness.

Waiting, needing only a second to be drawn.

Both Shinigami jumped as Shirou relaxed his stance and approached them. As Rangiku got ready to fight, she realized that Shirou wasn't approaching them. Or at least, it wasn't his intention to. He was approaching the still crying mother and the still body of the child.

She could only watch on as he walked past her and kneeled down in front of the crying mother. Ghina looked up from where she was crying, only now realizing she had another visitor, and broke into a wonderous sound of amazement and hate.

"You," Ghina began, "are too late." Tears spilled out again as she regarded the figure of the hero known throughout the land. "Why?" She asked trembling. "Why are you able to save others? Why can't you save Minna? Why won't you save Minna?"

A grimace spread out across Shirou's face. "I'm sorry." He said wistfully as he stroked Minna's hair. "I was too late." Another frown crossed his face as he looked up to take in the condition of the older woman. "But I can help you and the other villagers." She looked up, lost, and stared directly into his eyes.

"Heh," a laugh sounded. "Ha. Ha. Hahaha. Hahahahh. HAHAHAHAH!"

As the mother stood up abruptly, all three guests took a wary step back. Ghina stopped laughing. She regarded the three's expression. The warming and soul crushing sadness of the hero. The disparity within the female Shinigami's eyes. The cold detached studying that the male Shinigami was doing of the hero.

She slowly walked over the place where she was working before, a kitchen. Rangiku shared a look with Gin as she wondered whether to follow. And as she contemplated her choices, she was met with a gurgling sound.

Turning back around, she was greeted with the sight of Ghina. With a knife in her chest. Even as the woman took an unsteady step back, Shirou was already rushing to her.

Rangiku just stared. The eyes of Ghina when she had looked at her... she shook her head. Ghina no longer wanted to live in a world without her daughter. It reminded her of back when she too had all but given up on life. When a persimmon had changed her life. And as she watched the dying woman tumble into Shirou's arms, she knew that it was already over. There would be no persimmon today.

When she closed her eyes to give her final prayers is something happened. An overwhelming presence exploded from next to her, and as she opened her eyes alarmedly, she found Shirou glowing. And the reiatsu that spilled out of him… she hadn't ever felt something as potent and as strong as this… but it was somehow soothing. The feeling of rest, of hope, of… home.

A massive burst of energy exploded as she felt Gin raise his own reiatsu to combat the growing reiatsu of Shirou. And when he narrowed his eyes and got ready to fight, it happened.

Blue lights.

Golden lights.

They formed like a hollow shape of something greater. And as they formed, the reiatsu exploding out of Shirou gathered to become something more, something great.

A… sheath?

It was… a sheath. A beautiful sheath made of gold, with blue enamel that danced around the sheath to show its dignity and nobility. The sheath shone with power and comfort at the same time. A contradiction she had never felt before and was sure she would never see in the future, occurred. An overwhelming presence on this world, like a captain's reiatsu. But, welcoming the weak, and any who would seek shelter underneath it. A sheath of a perfect world, of a perfect society.

The sheath of the everdistant utopia-

"Avalon." Shirou breathed out as he seemed to tire in front of her eyes. And even the weariness that had just formed from Shirou began to slowly leave his shoulders as the sheath comforted his presence as well as everyone in the room.

Ghina's dead eyes sparked. With wonder. With amazement. How could something so beautiful exist? How could something so warm exist? Could… could she be a part of something like this? If she died, would she be able to see something like this? And as a million thoughts ran through her head, her hand reached up. Almost unwillingly her hand slowly came closer to the perfect ideal, the perfect world lying within the hero's arms. And as she grasped it.

She gasped.

The previous feeling of her life draining out of her chest. The previous feeling of despair that had taken over her mind. The previous feeling of the cold knife within her lungs. The suffocating knife that had been slowly killing her.

Was gone.

And as she turned her miraculous eyes towards the miracle who had brought this upon her, she realized something. Heroes existed. They might not be impossible beings that were able to save everyone and anyone with a snap of their fingers. But, one stood in front of her. With an impossible ideal, an impossible world, an impossible promise.

And she realized. That she believed.

What was overwhelming strength? Something used to cow people into submission? Would that bring this warmth to them? Would the Shinigami bring warmth to the people as this hero could? Was the Shinigami's 'Justice' with a steel hand better than the warmth of this hero's ideal?

And as golden motes seemed to float in the air of the dilapidated room she realized.

Why people regarded the hero as not just a hero.

But a savior.

* * *

As Rangiku took the impossibility of what was happening into her eyes, she froze. The… sheath jarred her mind. As if forcefully waking her up and reminding her of her dreams. Of her ideals. Of the persimmon that she had received that day. Of the smile that she had seen that day. And even as the sheath finished its job and disappeared to the world.

She questioned herself. Had she been living up to those dreams?

In the years of studying and practicing. Of living to see the next day come. Of living to see her friends and gossip about the dirtiest laundry in school. Of berating her captain about his mistakes and perversity. Had she been living her dream? Or had that dream been forgotten?

She glanced at the redhead sincerely this time. What had he been doing? In the 10 years she hadn't seen him, he had worked his ass off. To save people. To help people. To help people like Mai. To help people like Ghina. He ran around Rukongai for the past 10 years, doing what he wanted to do most.

Save people.

Could she honestly hate him for going against the strict hierarchy that was Soul Society? Could she honestly try and capture him? Could she honestly kill him?

And gazing at the woman crying on Shirou's shoulder, she realized.

No. She couldn't.

She sighed at the ramifications of that answer.

Her life was about to get much more complicated.

* * *

Gin didn't take his eyes off of the sheath. Even as it disintegrated to the same motes that were flying in the air when it was summoned, his eyes didn't leave. Flashes of memories filled his own head. Of Aizen. Of his promise to the world. Of his ambition. And he found himself gazing upon Shirou with the same eyes he laid down on Aizen.

This 'Shirou' person… wasn't just a hero. He was somebody with enough courage and charisma to shock people into standing. To make unwanted people feel wanted. To change the world. To make people… want to be people.

Aizen was like that. In his own way, Aizen was trying to change the boundaries of the world so that no longer would people be different. He would shudder sometimes when Aizen got into one of those moods. And how he would softly say, "One must always think of how the world should be, not how it is."

And as Shirou, who had that same ideal, healed the woman back to her full potential, Gin shivered.

At the possibility of Shirou meeting Aizen.

* * *

AN: Welp. We hit 150 favorites and 200 bookmarks. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that so many of you like my story. I've read your reviews and thanks for all the support and concern. I'll try my best to be consistent. (Although when actual fighting scenes start, it'll prob take a lot longer for chapters cause I've never written a fight scene.)

Guest: Ok so lotsa people have been sorta kinda complaining about how Shirou was able to hide from the Shinigami for 10 years. While I agree that Fate Route Shirou wouldn't be able to do so at the beginning, I have already told you guys that in the beginning Shirou was able to get help from other people. And in this story, I have made it so that when Shirou triggers on, his circuits open and his "reiatsu" becomes senseable(?) to this world. It might not be perfect, but its what I thought might happen.

Guest: Ok and another thing about taxes. So, most stories on the Bleach Universe always make it so that the Soul Society hierarchy are the good guys, but I think the story would be more interesting if they're not truly good nor bad. Imo every person has a reason for what they do, and the fact that corruption exists even in canon is an important part of the story.

Nihatclodra: Thanks for the suggestions. Might be useful, ;)

The god wolf: Uhh, yeah most likely. I don't know if it will become that big in this story.

Mx2432: Probably not, but maybe if the situation calls for it.

PixelGms: :Facepalm: I cant believe I just mistyped that. I meant incarnation.


	9. Fate Choice

Shirou sighed as he stood up to face the two Shinigami. He gave them a once over as he prepared to trace a needed weapon anytime. And that's when he realized.

"Wait," he began slowly, as he eyed the female. "Aren't you Rangiku?"

The blonde Shinigami sighed with a wary look. "Yeah." She replied without staring at Shirou directly. "…Yeah its me."

Shirou shook his head in disbelief. What are the odds of meeting one of the only Shinigami he knew? Especially at a backwater place like district 43. Maybe they had some other business they had to take care of? The Shinigami tended to forget about districts far from their own abode.

"And you are?" He asked as he turned to the male Shinigami quietly staring from the back. "I don't think we've met yet."

The Shinigami grinned. "I'm Ichimaru Gin." A glance from Rangiku. "And I'm her best friend."

"Whu-" Rangiku spluttered as she protested wildly. Shirou just looked amusedly at the two bickering. The way they bickered was oddly familiar. As if he too had at one time bickered like these two were doing.

He shook his head. He didn't need to be reminiscing old memories when he had at least one dangerous person in front of him.

"So," he began as his eyes flickered to the village. "Can you guys wait while I hand over this medicine for the villagers?" He didn't want the villagers to suffer anymore than they already had.

"Oh," Rangiku breathed out. "Yeah. Sure." She finished quietly.

Shirou turned back to study her. The way she had answered him seemed strangely emotional. He hadn't expected death gods to be attached to a village of weak souls. The majority of Shinigami's he had seen so far had been rude and arrogant. He shook his head again. It didn't matter if someone was out of the norm. Wasn't he himself different from any magus?

"Ok. Just give me a second." He said as he began to walk around visiting houses.

Rangiku and Gin stood there, as if something had rooted them to their spots.

"He's dangerous." Gin said softly as his eyes slowly turned to face Rangiku. "Remember what happened to every other revolutionist in this world."

Rangiku felt her eyes soften as she gazed at the redhead distribute the medicine. "…But it's beautiful."

Gin shook his head softly. "You are a Shinigami." He began, as if testing the words. "And when you chose to become a Shinigami, you made a choice." He stared at the back of the redhead. "As much as being a Shinigami gives, it also equally takes. You gave up that world."

"And just like there was a choice for you at that time. Another choice has opened for you here." Gin placed his hand on Rangiku's shoulder. "Are you willing to take that risk? For your friends and family to become in danger because you weren't able to be ruthless enough." Gin's voice became uncharacteristically hard at that. "Can you live with that choice?"

"…" Rangiku didn't reply as she continued to watch the joy and happiness of the villagers. She turned back to glance at Ghina, who had long stopped crying and had begun to lay Minna down on her bed. She watched as Ghina stroked Minna's hair out of her face. She watched as Minna's face seemed to turn peaceful. How the creases in her face smoothened out. She turned to the redhead and his brilliant smile. At the way he helped others.

"It's not wrong to help people." She argued as she struggled internally.

Gin sighed aloud.

"Is it?"

And suddenly Rangiku wasn't sure anymore.

* * *

"I'm back." Shirou announced as he approached the Rangiku and Gin. The two had been silently watching him help others, respecting his need to help. The least he could do was talk to them.

"Shirou," Rangiku began. "Do you know what you are doing?"

He looked up, a question in his eyes. "What do you mean?" He asked as he turned to give Rangiku his full attention.

"Shirou." Rangiku sighed as she fished for the words. "The way you are doing things are good." She began as she hoped that he would listen. "But by doing so you are doing something very dangerous. You're creating a revolutionary thought, one that believes that the Shinigami aren't needed in soul society. That the Shinigami are just greedy people that don't do anything to help out. And no matter how much that seems true, it's not. We Shinigami do a lot of things that are unseen to the plusses in the districts. We work to keep the order and peace within this land."

Shirou quietly let her finish. "That was not my intention." He began and Rangiku sighed as she realized it wouldn't be so easy.

"It doesn't matter what you yourself personally thinks or behaves. There will always be someone in the background taking advantage of what you're doing. Inciting the common souls to take action, until finally it becomes too much and a revolution begins. And when that happens,"

"It'll be a massacre." She finished solemnly.

Shirou clenched his fits as steel entered his voice. "It's not wrong to save people."

Gin and Rangiku shivered at the intensity of that statement.

"No, it's not." Rangiku agreed. "As someone who benefitted from your help I can absolutely agree with you in the fact that it's not wrong." With an apologetic voice, she continued. "But if you continue on as a lawless vigilante, a war will eventually start." She gazed sadly at the villagers. "And when that happens, people will die."

The words cut him. It was as if his Unlimited Blade Works had reversed and millions of swords had cut him open.

"So, it's a choice." Shirou replied as he considered the options. "Between saving people now and sacrificing people in the future. And sacrificing people now, so that the people of the future is safe."

Rangiku and Gin studied him. It wasn't as black and white as he believed it to be, but they didn't say anything.

"I'll save everyone." Shirou said as he reverted to his basic beliefs. "I won't sacrifice the people of the future, nor will I let the people now die. I'll save everyone."

"Shirou," Rangiku began softly. "The last time someone revolutionized the soul society, thousands of souls perished."

And that fact ripped him open once again. It was like the cogs of his very being was unable to function, as he slowly absorbed that fact. The fact that thousand of people had died… it crushed his lungs as if a thousand swords had been dumped on them. "I wasn't there when that happened." He began slowly, as if he struggled to get those words out. "I am here now."

Rangiku smiled softly. "You are one man." And if her words before hadn't crushed his soul before, they had definitely done so now. "What can one man do?" She continued as Shirou didn't respond. "Can you shoulder the fact that one day, because you chose to save everyone, thousands of people died? What can you do alone?"

Shirou clenched his teeth as he closed his eyes. What could he do? It was true. He was alone. He no longer had _Saber_ by his side. He no longer had Tohsaka by his side. He no longer had Kiritsugu by his side. What could he do alone?

And when Shirou opened his mouth, nothing came out. All he could do, was stand there. Jammed gears, filled with rust, refusing to work.

Gin eyed him. "You can only do your best." He began as Shirou turned his golden eyes towards him. "Come join us in Seireitei. We can't save everyone, but we save the most people we can."

Shirou closed his mouth. The path of the most survival… Kiritsugu's path. Archer's path. The path of the shura. The path that had destroyed EMIYA as a hero and made him give up. Yet was there any other choice? He couldn't do anything to save the 10 people that died when 100 was risked. He couldn't do anything alone.

"And are you alone?"

Alarmed, Shirou rapidly glanced from side to side. That voice… where had it come from? As Rangiku and Gin gave him confused looks, he began to panic.

"Why are you panicking? Aren't I right here with you? All this time."

He stopped. All motions ceased as he slowly looked at the location of the sound. His eyes reached the hilt of the sword strapped to his back as he wondered if he was hallucinating.

"Don't worry." Another voice this time. Different, and familiar. "You're not crazy."

He slowly crouched down as he shrugged the sword off his back to clutch it directly within his hands. The voices had multiplied now. The voices bickered in his mind, as he struggled to make sense of it all.

"Hey-" Rangiku began as she tried to lay a hand down on his shoulder.

A hand stopped her from doing so. She gave Gin a curious look at the solemn look he returned as he motioned to keep silent.

As she watched Shirou's strange behavior, she slowly realized what was happening. She amusedly shook her head at Shirou. It had awoken already? It had only been 10 years.

Shirou unsheathed the sword as the voices became louder.

The voices synchronized as they said- "Call out our name. Open the gates to the Throne of Heroes-"

" **Eireikagi**."

* * *

AN: Ok someone has pointed out that Chapter 1 is ENTIRELY in bold. Wait. What. I definitely did NOT mean for that to happen? The fanfiction app doesn't show it as bold for me… what's going on? Do any of you have a similar problem? Or is it just those couple of people?

Masterx01: In the wiki page for Avalon, it is stated that "Even after separating it from him, it has merged with him to the point where he is able to create a perfect projection of it without any degradation that bypasses all of the steps due to having a complete record of it." So, I'm guessing he can… maybe I'm wrong. And if I am, I'm sorry to have ruffled your feathers. Ill try to be more accurate in future stories. And I didn't really think about putting much detail in the fight with Gilgamesh. I kinda wanted to make it the last clash they had. Maybe it was wrong to do so? I'll put some more thought in these decisions in the future.

Illufoxatar: :D I understand where you're coming from. It will be explained in the future.

Ruberforumfree: Uhh I have no clue. I dnno if I can even WRITE romance… we'll have to see.

HarmonyDST05: Well they aren't really magic circuits anymore. He has become a soul now, and that's changed him to a certain point.

Once again, thanks for all the reviews!


	10. Fate Throne

"Call out our name. Open the gates to the Throne of Heroes-"

" **Eireikagi."**

* * *

Shirou opened his eyes to a familiar sight. Swords. Long swords, short swords, magic swords, holy swords, and demon swords. All kinds of swords littered the hills as they lay, standing in silence and solitude. Although there were thousands of swords, the sight of them brought an intense feeling of loneliness. A barren land, where nothing else could grow.

Shirou looked up to glance at the massive cogs that spun in the distance. They must have been kilometers in length and width, and surely must have weighed thousands of kilograms. Yet they floated, disregarding the absolute rules of earth and the heavens alike as they did nothing else but float. An impossibility, yet a reality within this distorted world.

Shirou sighed audibly as he met the familiar sight of weapons he had not traced in years. With how little threats he had met in Soul Society for the past decade, he hadn't needed many of the noble phantasms he had seen. His eyes met a sword. He tenderly stroked the sword, of blue handle and golden hilt. With words of golden that traced, _"Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightwise king of all England". Her sword._ He breathed out the name-

" _Caliburn._ "

The sword seemed to relax at his grip, and memories of a monster struck him. Memories of _her_ as they fought together to defeat the monstrosity that was Heracles. Of the strike they had pulled off together. Of the times they had spent together. Of their date… of their spars… of their life. And that moment when _she_ had looked back at him with those unyielding eyes. Those determined green eyes, staring at him as he struggled to command her. To use the last command seal. To destroy the holy grail. To… part with him. To disappear until they met again.

He sighed as he leaned his forehead onto the sword. The memories were old but struck him harder than any other. He would _never_ forget _her_ , but he was _already_ forgetting bits of _her_. He would forever remember her glorious figure as he lay, sprawled out in his workshop while she asked the words that had changed his life forever. The clanking of her armor like heavenly bells, as they sang to his ears. The words that had changed him forever, to be more than he wanted to be.

And as tears slowly rolled down his cheeks, he realized that he no longer remembered how _she_ smelt like. Or how _she_ slept in her bed. Or how _she_ would react whenever Illya had done something childish. Or the face _she_ had when Tohsaka would tease her. The small things.

He would forever remember her as the Saber that had brought meaning to the sheath. But he was slowly losing sight of the _woman_ that was Saber. And he hated it almost as much as he hated being stuck in this new land, unable to find her for a decade, wondering if she had moved on.

And of course, she wouldn't have. It wasn't even a question. She would be continuously waiting, as he pursued endlessly. For that one moment in time, where they would finally be reunited. Where the lonely sword finally meets the embrace of the sheath. Where he would finally be able to tell her. How much he loved her. How much he regretted being unable to help as much. How much he wanted to ask her to fight Gilgamesh with him, instead of going off separately to destroy the grail. How much he desperately searched for her.

He sighed audibly once more. He opened his closed eyes, as he lifted his forehead off Caliburn. And as he raised his head, he realized something was different in the unlimited blade works.

His reality marble was his soul, mapped out to become an entire world, and strong enough to realize itself into the real world. But this wasn't the real world. No, he hadn't brought his soul out to the world, instead, his soul had brought him _inside_ his soul. And apparently the soul he mad manifested before, had changed in the 10 years he hadn't seen it. He could feel the massive presence of _something_ in the back of his head, standing in the distance.

And as he turned around, he saw it for the first time. At the top of the highest hill, the loneliest hill, stood a throne. A throne of massive proportions, large enough to rival the gears that spun endlessly in the sky. A beautiful white color, as golden engravings ran down both sides of the armrests. The violet drapes lay across the throne all the way to the feet. And down at it's feet was where he lay his eyes upon _IT._

The visage of a woman, smiling down at him. A beautiful armored figure, one with blonde hair and green eyes. She smiled softly as she eyed him from a distance. Her mouth opened. And despite the distance between the two, he could hear the words that tumbled out of her open mouth as if she was right next to him.

" _I'm back."_ A smile. _"Shirou."_

His eyes widened at the possibility. His mouth suddenly felt as he was in a desert. His mouth opened as he struggled to say something, anything, as he refused to let his eyes leave the sight of the beautiful woman. Tears, that had long since dried up, filled his eyes once more as he stood abruptly.

"A-" He managed, as he forced out the word. "Art-t-uri-ia?" A word that had seemed worlds apart from him until this moment. A word that had seemed impossible.

The woman in the distance smiled at his figure, crouched and disappeared.

And as he wildly looked about for another hint of her, he felt it. Two soft but firm arms wrapped around his back. He froze as something blonde filled the right side of his vision. A blonde bun, reminiscent of times long past. His eyes almost refused to believe the sight, and his nose began to remember the scents he had long forgotten.

"Arturia." He managed once more, as his arms trembled. "I found you."

A pregnant pause filled the air at his statement.

"I was always here with you."

And he realized. She was.

"Endlessly pursuing," he began, voice still unbelieving of the situation.

She smiled. "Continuously waiting."

Tears spilled.

He nodded as he wrapped his arms around the arms that gently encircled him.

He had always wondered what he would talk about when they met. What he would spout, as he excitedly listed off stories. How he had fought Gilgamesh. How he had saved lives. How much he regretted. How much he loved her. However-

No words were exchanged after that. No words were needed.

And finally, after a decade of searching and a decade of waiting, a miracle was born.

And the lonely sword met the embrace of the warm sheath, on a hill of swords, no longer in solitude.

* * *

What seemed like hours had passed before Arturia reluctantly left his embrace. As he looked upon her green eyes, questions on the tip of his tongue, she smiled as she shook her head. Despite that, Shirou tightened his hands on her. He couldn't believe that she was actually here.

And then something peculiar happened. Her cheeks slowly turned red. It wasn't so disturbing at first, but it spread across her cheeks until it blossomed across her entire face. Eventually, her face resembled a tomato more than the regal king it once held. She looked troubled and hesitant. She opened her mouth slowly, as if wondering whether she should say why, until a familiar voice interrupted her thought process.

"Gah." A snarky voice rang out. "You guys can be lovey dovey all you want when you guys are alone. But please not when I'm here."

That voice… Archer?

As Shirou whirled around, he was greeted with the second impossibility of the day. Archer, in all his snarky attitude, stood as he regarded the hugging couple coldly.

"Wha- how" was all Shirou could get out before Saber exploded with embarrassment.

"ARCHER!" Was all the warning Shirou got before he found himself being catapulted off Arturia.

"We were just- I mean- its been so long- not that I lo-" She steamed from her ears as she tried to get in control of her emotions.

Archer sighed audibly. "Great." He muttered, seemingly tired. "I'm stuck with this stupid lovesick pair."

Shirou wondered how Arturia somehow managed to become even more red at Archer's comment. As she tried to splutter out an answer, Shirou dusted himself off and faced Archer. "Why are you here? How are you here?"

Archer turned his steel eyes towards him. "I've also been here since a decade ago. It's just that you've taken a decade to hear our voices dumbass." He rolled his eyes as Arturia began to protest. "We've been here ever since you got your asauchi." At Shirou's confused eyes, he explained. "We don't really know what's been happening either. The only thing you need to know is that, this sword is a part of your soul now. And we," he motioned to the throne behind them. "Are a part of you now."

That got a reaction out of him. "We?" Echoed Shirou as he struggled to make sense of it all. "How many people are we talking about?"

Archer smirked at that. "Every heroic spirit that had once wielded the swords you embody in your soul, is with us in that throne." He smirked as a horrified expression appeared on Shirou's face. "Don't worry, we don't really want to do much. All you need to know, is that when things get rough and things get tough, you can always rely on us."

Shirou blinked at those words. "What...?" He managed as he spared a glance at the throne in the distance. At the explanation of Archer, the throne seemed even more magnificent and heavy. The presence it exuded seemed to wrap the air as it kept his soul grounded.

Saber gave a beatific smile. "You are not alone."

A moment passed. "I'm not alone." He tested out the words. "I'm not alone." Another moment passed as the fact sunk in.

"I'm not alone."

Archer suddenly smirked. "By the way, we can hear your thoughts. We are your soul after all."

"My thoughts?" Began a confused Shirou. He could see Arturia reddening in the background. "What does that have to do with anyth-" was all he got out before he realized.

They could hear his thoughts. And he thought about finding Arturia all the time. And what he would say. Of all the embarrassing things he would think as he tried to find Arturia. Of how much he loved her. Of all the stupid things he thought of.

"Oh." He managed, voice strangled.

Arturia reddened even further as she sunk into a ball.

Archer grin widened as he let out a final remark.

"All of it."

How did he always find himself in these situations?

* * *

"So, this would be the state of Shikai?" Shirou asked Archer after the initial embarrassment had finally worn off. He vowed to never think of anything embarrassing again as Archer gave another large grin at him.

"Yes." Archer sounded very amused. "When you use your Shikai, or Initial Release, you should be able to merge with one of us."

"Merge?" Shirou let out confusedly. "What do you mean?"

Archer grimaced as if the idea alone offended him. "It would mean you and I would share a body for the time you spend in Shikai." He continued slowly. "Or you and Saber or any other spirit you have in here."

"I know what the word merge means." Shirou replied hotly. "I meant, what does it _mean_ to merge with one of you."

Archer sighed despairingly. "We both would be running the body. Either you in control, or ourselves. You would have our abilities, but the spirits might not have the same goals as you." He finished as he gave Shirou another hard glance.

"What does that entail for me?" Shirou asked as he turned to Arturia instead. A serious expression had blossomed over the duration of the conversation. "What happens when they don't believe in what I believe in?"

Arturia gave him a glance. "They could take control of the body while in Shikai. They might do something you would not agree in."

He could see where this was going. "No," he denied strongly. "I won't let that happen."

He shook his head at what a Heroic Spirit could do in the world of the dead. It would be a massacre.

Arturia gave him another steady glance as she grabbed him by the shoulders. "You must remember," she began as she pinned him with her stare. "That ultimately we are a part of your soul, and we want only the best for you."

"Even if that collides with what you want to do."

* * *

AN2: I reuploaded this because I wasn't really happy with the first upload. Some minor changes.

AN: Oh boi, we hit 240 favorites and 360 followers. Holy shit.

Amphidsf: Eireikagi is supposed to mean the Heroes' Key or Spirit's Key. I don't know enough Japan to know if that roughly translates to potato starch. But if it does. That's pretty dope.

Masterx01: I just realized that your review was about Chapter 1… uhhhhhh sorry. I had just finished writing the chapter where Shirou had traced Avalon, so I didn't realize we were talking about different occasions. My bad. I agree with your comments, I seem to have made some mistakes and plot holes. At this point, I can only roll with it, but I'll keep your comments in mind to make sure I don't make the same mistake in the future. Thanks for the reviews. And I agree that Fanon might have influenced me too much.

Adislt: Something like that :D

Tl34lt12: I got something special planned for him. :3

RedBurningDragon: Yeah there is an app. I didn't know for a while too. Lol.

HarmonyDST05: Yes, but are souls in the Bleach universe the same as the souls in the Nasuverse? That's pretty much what I chalk it up to.

JRZTT1246: I meant my Shirou to be a Shirou from the fate route, where Shirou sent off Saber to destroy the grail and he went to off to stop Gilgamesh from interfering. I know this isn't very canon. My bad. Ill try to keep more things in canon. Oh, and Avalon was able to heal because Arturia was with him, just in a hidden way. And Avalon being the mystical sheath that it is, detected Arturia.

Nanox876: Maybe…? I'm not quite sure yet.


	11. Fate Transformation

Rangiku poked the unmoving form of Shirou. No response. Another poke.

"Stop that." Gin sighed as he snatched her hand away from Shirou. "We don't know how he will react when he wakes up."

"I know that," she said even as she returned to poking at Shirou's still face with her free hand. "That doesn't mean I'm getting my revenge for all the troubles he's given us." She smiled fondly as Shirou's visage grew troubled. "Hehe," She giggled aloud. "He looks cute when troubled."

The grip on her arm grew strong. "…What."

She turned back to see Gin's signature smile looking down on her. "What," he repeated as the grip tightened even more. "Did you just say?" Uh oh. The smile was beginning to look _too_ nice.

"Nothing." She said a little bit too quickly. "Just that he seems to be troubled." She turned her gaze back to the redhead's face. Shirou's expression was now more akin to confusion and surprise. She wondered what could possibly get the brave hero to become as confused as he was now. Did he not know what an asauchi did? "Maybe he doesn't have a clue."

Gin faced her at that. "What do you mean?"

She looked down at the naked steel on Shirou's lap. The steel that had once been Mai's. The steel that was a reminder to her. A reminder of her mistakes. A reminder of things forgotten, and things to come.

She looked away. "Nothing." She dusted off her lap as she stood up.

"Just thinking about stuff."

Gin gave her an unreadable look. He opened his mouth. "Ran-"

And suddenly Shirou woke up.

Gin grabbed her hand as he backpedaled. One hand on his zanpakuto, he got ready for any reaction from the wandering swordsman.

"Hey-" she protested at the sharp tug on her arm. "Ow- don't do that!"

"Be ready." Gin's curt voice cut through her protests. "He could be dangerous."

She rolled her eyes at his urgency. "It's just Shirou. He wouldn't hurt us." She mumbled as she tugged her arm away from Gin's grip. She turned back to give Shirou her full attention. The redhead seemed to be processing something as he closed his golden eyes. Shirou slowly raised his arm, so that the blade he was gripping was parallel to the ground. He slowly rotated the sword, as if he was opening a lock with a key. And as she started to grow nervous, he opened his mouth and muttered-

"Release," His eyes were now open, and she shivered at the inhuman golden glow. "And install. Arturia Pendragon."

A golden light. No, that wasn't nearly enough to explain the explosion of light. It was silent and loud at the same time. It was an explosion of reiatsu, as the golden light threatened to overturn the entire plaza they were in. And as the golden light began to slowly disperse, she saw him. Or rather-

"Her?" She blurted out at the definitely _female_ person standing where Shirou once stood. Even as the girl opened her eyes, and took in her surroundings, Rangiku stood tongue-tied at the sight of her friend(?). The girl was a gorgeous blonde with red streaks mixed in her hair. Her hair, in the form of a bun was an odd sight to bear, if only because of the odd colors. Her eyes, a mix of brown and green, seemed to be almost kingly. It reminded her of power. Of authority.

Of… of the Captain Commander.

Rangiku shivered at the thought. She was wearing what seemed to be a dress of blues and reds, and although she was relatively flat, Rangiku couldn't deny the female bulge on Shirou's chest. As she struggled to take in the new form of her friend, she noticed the sword or more importantly. _That sheathe._

"Woah." A feminine Shirou(?) voiced out. "This feels weird."

Both Gin and Rangiku took a step back at (his? her?) voice. A wary look in their eyes, they unsheathed their zanpakutos. They had definitely not expected _this._

Over in the plaza, the girl observed her arms and dress. She seemed almost confused.

"This… is weird." She said. "I didn't expect us to be merging in body as well."

 _Merging?_ Rangiku shook her head in confusion. "Um." She began as the girl turned to give her her(?) attention. "Are you… Shirou?"

A moment of silence drifted in the wind. The girl in question seemed to give her question some thought. And as the wind blew and the leaves fluttered in the air, Rangiku realized for the first time that-

 _She_ was _hot._

And as Rangiku began to question her sexuality internally, the girl finally gave an answer.

"Yes and no?"

Rangiku and Gin exchanged worried glances. She didn't know who she was? That was worrying. If Shirou was beginning to forget himself… this would spell trouble in the Gotei 13. They would no longer believe in trying to deal with him peacefully. A zanpakuto spirit that affected the user's mentality… it was too dangerous.

Rangiku gulped as Shirou seemed to notice the sheath and sword on her hip. Shirou's gaze turned ridiculous and Rangiku was sure she would have laughed had it not been for the atmosphere. Even so, she giggled at his incredulous expression.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "Isn't that just your sword?"

Shirou stopped moving. He seemed to freeze as his eyes locked to the sheathe.

Was something wrong? Wasn't that the sheathe he had used to heal Ghina from the disease? Was there something different to the sheathe? She glanced at the sheathe Shirou couldn't take his eyes off of. It seemed completely normal. Although, it was hard to call that _sheathe_ anything but abnormal, it seemed completely the same as it was before. Well, other than the fact that it clearly held a sword.

She studied the handle. It was of European make? Wait. She turned confused. What's European?

"It's," Shirou breathed out, voice straining to get out the words. "real."

Real? What did he mean? Was the one he had made before not real? Did he think he was hallucinating? Was his zanpakuto affecting his memories or brain structure? What was happening?

Rangiku shook her head. No, it didn't matter what was happening. She had come here for a job. One that she would complete.

She walked up to Shirou who still couldn't take his eyes off the sheathe.

She could feel Gin's glare at the back of her head, but she took a deep breath and shouldered forward.

"Shirou." She began nervously. As Shirou turned to give those strange eyes her attention, she gulped.

"Soul Society will not allow you to be a vigilante." She gulped again as Shirou's eyes narrowed. "And you cannot do anything alone. Why not join us? You have my word that it's the better choice."

Shirou closed her eyes. A completely stoic face covered his expression, and pressure not there before mounted. A regal, royal voice answered her.

"He is not alone. He has many with him." And with growing nervousness, she realized that she was no longer talking to Shirou. The atmosphere no longer felt as if she was talking to the vigilante hero. It felt like… she was in a courtyard, being judged by her king.

"What did you do to him?" She questioned the being within Shirou. "Return him here at once. That is his choice to make, not yours."

"No matter what he thinks, we will always be looking out for him." Shirou responded. "There is nothing more important to us than him. After all," The atmosphere got lighter. "We are his soul." Shirou responded with a smile.

"…" Rangiku had nothing to respond to that.

"Well how about you visit us?" A voice rang out.

Rangiku turned back to give Gin a glance. He had remained silently observing Shirou for the majority of the occasion, but he seemed to have made a decision.

"If you visit us you can see what we're like." Gin continued. "We are not the bad guys, and we hope you can see that."

Shirou turned contemplative at that. Rangiku could see the gears turning in Shirou's head, obviously weighing the pros and the cons. Shirou turned back and gave a glance to the villagers who had taken the chance to hide and watch what they were up to. The villagers seemed to be… scared.

Rangiku shook her head. People will always be afraid of the unknown.

"Ok."

"It's fine if you don't- buhwha" Rangiku floundered as she struggled to give an answer. "What?!"

Shirou turned to give her an amused glance. "I said ok." He put the sheathe back on her hip, and Shirou began to glow once more. She covered her eyes with her arm as the massive light overtook the plaza once more. After the light receded, she was greeted to the sight of the Wandering Swordsman.

"I'll see what you guys are." Shirou continued with a serious tone. "Heroes… or death gods."

She gulped again as she gave Gin a nervous glance.

"And if we aren't heroes?"

Shirou didn't respond.

Rangiku shook her head, nervousness growing inside.

Was this the right choice?

* * *

"Is this the right choice?" Shirou silently asked Arturia. He hadn't wanted to do this… but Arturia had taken the choice out of his hands.

" _Don't worry, Shirou."_ She replied. _"Even if they turn out to be what we suspect them to be, it is of no problem. You have us. They wouldn't stand a chance against the full power of a heroic spirit."_ She suddenly grumbled. " _Even if that heroic spirit is that damn archer."_

" _Damn archer?"_ Shirou asked as he continued to follow Rangiku and Gin silently. Rangiku had taken to explain the Gotei 13's hierarchy system to him, and he listened closely to glean any needed information. _"What archer?"_

No reply was given.

" _Arturia?"_ He asked internally as he nodded at Rangiku's question.

"…"

" _Arturia? You ok there?"_

" _It's nothing."_

That didn't sound like nothing. _"You sure?"_

" _Yes."_

She didn't speak up again.

He sighed as he returned his focus to Rangiku.

"-and then we have the seated officers, which are basically rankings for how important you are in the division." She continued, oblivious to his loss of focus. "I'm an 8th seat."

Shirou nodded silently. So, she was an 8th seat? She didn't seem to dangerous, maybe he was worrying too much about the power level of the Shinigami.

"Well?"

"Hm?" Shirou turned to find Rangiku looking expectantly at him. "What is it?"

Rangiku looked at him in disbelief. "Sigh." Sighing audibly, Rangiku slumped as Gin gave a small snicker. Was he supposed to answer something there? Did he miss a part of the conversation? He shook his head as Rangiku slapped Gin on the shoulder. Women. He would never understand them.

"Nothing." Rangiku replied at Shirou's questioning look. "Let's hear less from me, and more from you!" Rangiku turned to Shirou with a beaming smile. "Will you introduce yourself, oh mister hero?"

Shirou blinked. "Oh." He began as he gathered his thoughts. "I'm Emiya Shirou." As Rangiku nodded excitedly he fell silent. "Uh-" he began once more. "I save people." There, that seemed accurate. He nodded to himself, satisfied at his answer.

Silence befell the group. Rangiku seemed to be waiting for something, and Shirou turned away from her shining eyes.

"That's pretty much it."

Silence reigned. Rangiku's smile slowly morphed from excited to stunned. Gin just smiled from the back.

He was creepy. Too silent and too smart. He strangely reminded him of Kotomine.

He would keep an eye open.

"You don't have any hobbies?" Rangiku asked as she tried again to keep the conversation rolling. "Anything you like to do?"

Shirou pondered on the answer. "I like to save people."

SLAP. Shirou turned to face Rangiku, who had taken to slapping her own face. He gave a questioning glance to Gin as he wondered what was happening. Gin just gave him a creepy grin.

Yep. Kotomine senses.

He shook his head.

Shinigami were weird.

* * *

Shirou was weird.

Rangiku sighed as she massaged her temples. Shirou was too focused on his ideal of saving people. It was all he would think about. Any question about anything ultimately returned back to, "I save people." Needless to say-

It was driving her crazy.

"PLEASE." She almost shouted as Shirou jumped at the sudden sound. "DO YOU HAVE **ANY** OTHER THING TO SAY OTHER THAN SAVE PEOPLE."

He seemed to ponder on the answer.

"PLEASE." Rangiku cried, begging for anything different. It was hard to get to know someone, who apparently only did one thing for his entire life.

"Ah," Shirou began as if just remembering something. "I was searching for a while."

THANK THE GODS. Finally, something.

"What were you searching for?" She prompted as Shirou turned his attention to the setting sun.

"I was looking for a woman." He stopped as he regarded the sunset. "I found her."

"Great!" Rangiku replied as she finally had something to talk about. "Where is she?"

Shirou pointed at himself. "Right here." He smiled fondly. "She was right here."

"…" Rangiku took a second to gather her thoughts. If the woman he was looking for was in himself… did that mean she was dead?

She studied his face. It seemed pleasantly peaceful. She shook her head. Not dead then. What did he mean?

Her thoughts drifted to his shikai's form. He was a woman in that form, right? Was… was he turning into the woman? Or worse… was he himself the woman? Was that why he seemed confused as to who he was? Oh god… was he a transsexual? Did he want to be female? How did that work in a place with souls? What did that mean in a place of souls?

As Rangiku gripped her head in despair and confusion, Shirou turned back to the sunset. With his beloved Saber at his side, everything seemed right again. He didn't have any worries anymore. He could now stick to his goal of saving everyone. He nodded to himself as he resolved himself to work harder.

Rangiku watching from the side took a step backwards. This guy…

(S)He was dangerous.

* * *

AN: New chapter! Thanks for all the encouragement! I've been kinda busy playing osu! so im late. :D

Madlord23: Sorta.

YouCanGuessWho: Thanks! Ill be sure to research more.

Amphidsf: Currently I'm planning on Shirou not having too many heroes. Or at least, even if he does they won't be likely to help him. After all, some spirits are more selfish than others.

tl34lt12: Hmm... that's interesting.

T-B-R: Probably not. Maybe for shit and giggles.

logron: Indeed! :D


	12. Fate Seireitei

The fire cackled loudly as he shifted some wood. Shirou sighed as he glanced at the two Shinigami accompanying his journey to Seireitei. The 'Gin' dude was still watching him silently. Gin had taken to be a silent observer in the cacophony that was Rangiku's conversation, and Shirou wished he could do the same. Although, Shirou glanced at Rangiku from afar, he had managed to learn quite a bit from her.

Shirou watched Rangiku silently as she talked to what seemed to be a black butterfly. He shook his head. Ever since he had arrived in Soul Society, things hadn't made much sense. What could a butterfly do? Then again, nothing made sense here. The citizens in this country seemed to be souls. But if they were souls, wouldn't that make them unable to be killed? It didn't quite make sense that souls could kill other soul by beating them. How could the dead die again? And did it make any sense that souls could die from hunger?

He shook his head again. Maybe Rangiku would know?

He waited patiently for Rangiku to finish whatever she was doing. She seemed oddly serious talking to the butterfly, very different from her earlier attitude when she was talking to himself.

Maybe she was reporting to someone with more authority than her? Her captain? Her boss?

As Rangiku finished her talk, the butterfly flew away, almost invisible in the night sky. Shirou watched it fly away. It seemed to have a purpose. Rangiku started to walk back to the campfire, and Shirou took the opportunity to ask some questions.

"Hey." Shirou began, catching her attention. "What was that?"

"Hm?" Rangiku mused thoughtfully as if considering something. "Oh… it's nothing. Just something that can message home."

A report determined at Rangiku's tone. But to who?

As Shirou contemplated pushing the question further, Rangiku spoke up.

"So, Shirou."

Shirou looked up at her. "What is it?"

"What are you going to do when you get to Seireitei?"

What was he going to do… he didn't know. Maybe ask for a permit to do what he did without it being illegal? That sounded about right… he wondered if they would allow something like that.

"Find a way to save people." He said as he determined his words. "Legally."

"SIGH." " _Sigh."_

Hm? Arturia had woken up?

"What's wrong?" He asked both the spirit and the Shinigami.

"Nothing." Rangiku quickly replied. "Just… I'm surprised that you don't really think about anything other than saving people. Don't you have a goal in life? Something you want to achieve yourself, that has to do with yourself?"

"A goal in life? Other than saving people?" Shirou pondered. Did he have a goal other than saving people? He had wanted to be reunited with Saber… but he had. Now that he had, he thought he could focus on saving people. Did he still need another selfish goal?

" _Yes."_

He perked up at that. " _Arturia? Is that you?"_

" _Yes."_

" _What do you mean yes? I don't think I particularly need another goal. I have you."_

Arturia sighed as she mulled on his words. _"Although you have us, don't you think you should be more selfish? Find a goal for yourself? Something that doesn't have to do with other people's happiness?"_

Shirou shook his head confusedly. Didn't she know?

" _My happiness stems from other people's happiness. I don't need anything else to enjoy life."_

Arturia sighed once more. _"Shirou,"_ she started slowly, as if talking to a particularly dumb child. _"That's not happiness. At least, not really."_ She shook her head again at his puzzled expression.

" _I think you need to look into yourself. Remember who you are. What you are. And then, do something for yourself. And only for yourself. Be selfish."_

Shirou didn't think he needed to be selfish. He had a perfectly functioning life doing what he did, right? Living for others was not wrong. Kiritsugu's dream was beautiful. Did he need anything other than his Saber and that dream?

"Well?" Rangiku asked as she impatiently motioned at Shirou to answer.

"I guess…" Arturia's advice had never been wrong before, right? "I guess I'll try not to be me."

"…" Dumbfounded silence filled the air. "What?"

"I'll try to be… selfish." He nodded finding the words he was looking for. "I'll try to live for myself."

"…" Rangiku was speechless. "That's your goal? Living for yourself?"

"Yes."

Rangiku shook her head. The more she learned about this guy, the more confused she became. Why was he trying to be more selfish? Who had gotten this idea into his head? Why did he live so selflessly? Why had he become a vigilante instead of a Shinigami? Rangiku massaged her temples. Too many questions, not enough answers.

"And that's it? Your satisfied with that?"

Rangiku looked up to find Gin facing Shirou with a serious glance. The question he had asked rang through the air, and Shirou became contemplative once more.

"…Yes." Shirou decided as he gripped his fist. "For now."

Gin shook his head.

 _In the end, is he any different from Aizen?_

* * *

Clean streets. A bustling marketplace. Kids running around, having fun and laughing as they played games. A happy atmosphere in the air, people and Shinigami alike moved around as they attended to their own business.

Ryuutamashiikai. The city with the most population within Soul Society.

Also, the best place Shirou had ever seen since a decade living here.

He sighed at the general happiness that exuded from the people. People here were happy. Safe.

Content.

As he walked by numerous villagers with the Shinigami, he noticed that the villagers were not cowed by the Shinigami's presence. They walked alongside them, as if they were completely normal beings. What a peaceful village.

Maybe the Shinigami weren't so bad.

He remembered the outright terrified visage of the souls in the farther districts. Maybe he could fix that? Fixing Society's wrongs from within… that sounded like something a hero would do.

The more he thought about it, the more it sounded good in his mind. Although he would be unable to help physically, others could.

But then again did that ever work? Humanity was selfish and greedy. Would it be any different in a Society of human souls? And although he would try to save everyone, could he save everyone from the inside? Protected from the bad things that happen on the outside. The corruption of individuals. The suffering people in the farther districts. People running around without sandals. People starving to death, because of the rampant corruption of Shinigami.

He shook his head. It wouldn't work. At least not quickly. And too many people would be dead by then. He would not let that happen.

Revolution, then? No, that would bring too many casualties. He wouldn't be able to save everyone if he did so. Too much rage and anger within the hearts of the citizens. What about a protest? A peaceful protest? That had worked to some extent in the living world. Would that work here?

Shirou shook his head as he determined the answer. People with power will always want to stay in power. And with the power of Shinigami, they would never allow a peaceful end to their reign. Suffering and death would be rampant. He could not allow that either.

He sighed as he contemplated the situation. What could he do? He was only a sword.

"Maybe…" He mused quietly. "With enough strength?" That could potentially work. Enough strength to cow everyone to stop fighting. Would that work?

He shook his head again. No. It would be the same situation with the Shinigami. Although it could potentially stem wars and corruption, it would be only a matter of time before a revolution happened. And then the Shinigami wouldn't be so nice. Blood would rain down.

" _Its ok."_

Arturia?

" _Its ok not to know the answer."_ Arturia's soft voice sounded within his head. _"All you need to do, is do your best."_

Shirou nodded his head thoughtfully.

Yes.

When had he ever been able to solve anything by thinking? He had always been more of a hands-on type of person. Even when Arturia had fought Heracles, he had refused to stand by thinking of a plan. He had picked up a bow and fought with her. He nodded resolutely. All he needed to do was walk forward.

That's right hadn't he been-

 _Unaware of loss,_

 _Nor aware of gain._

 _Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one's arrival._

 _I have no regrets. This is the only path._

That's right. There was only one path. All he needed to do was walk it.

" _Arturia?"_

" _Hm? What is it?"_

" _Thank you."_ A pause. _"I love you."_

There was silence. A small whisper.

" _Hm?"_ Shirou asked as he missed the quiet murmur.

"…" An embarrassed voice quietly shot out. _"Me too…"_

Shirou smiled heartfully. With Saber by his side there was no obstacle large enough.

* * *

Gin watched Shirou silently as they walked towards the western gate.

Nothing important had happened on their way here, but Gin was taking zero chances. He already had his hands filled with one revolutionary. He didn't need a second one to mess up his plans.

And what had that sheath been? Back at that village, Shirou had instantly cured an illness that had been plaguing the village for a while. Too easily. That was something that Aizen would be concerned about. Should he tell Aizen?

He shook his head. With that much power in his hands, who knows what Aizen would do. The experiments that he had begun to make would become much more controlled. The pace of the revolution would skyrocket. He gave Rangiku who was humming along at their side a glance. He should ask Rangiku to be quiet too.

"-" A murmur. He looked up at Shirou, who seemed occupied with something. He was stroking his chin, murmuring to himself. What had he said?

"With enough strength…"

"?!" Gin's visage grew serious. Did he hear that correctly?

Shirou, oblivious to Gin's observation, continued to muse silently.

To Gin's continuing worry, Shirou didn't say anything else.

He sighed.

"Looks like I'll have to pay even more attention."

"Hm?" Rangiku stopped humming as she turned to Gin. "What was that?"

Gin turned to give Rangiku a serious glance. He contemplated telling her. Telling her everything. To stay away from Aizen. To run away to the ends of Soul Society. To run away with him. To escape when they still could. To live together, not caring about anything else. To stay away from Shirou, who would no doubt be in Aizen's attention.

He contemplated telling the truth.

And then he smiled.

"Nothing Ran-chan."

She frowned but he didn't say anything.

He could do this himself.

* * *

Finally. They were home!

Rangiku sighed with happiness as the trio reached the boundary. She could finally take a bath! She could paint her nails, she could eat real food, she could get away from the bugs!

She sighed with happiness once more. Just the mere thought of home seemed to recharge her energy.

"Ok." She turned to Shirou, who had been strangely quiet during the walk in Ryuutamashiikai. Maybe the nerves were getting to him? She shook her head amusedly. "We're here. This is the boundary to the home of Shinigami."

Shirou looked around. "Is it here?" He asked as he pointed to the boundary with pinpoint precision. He… sniffed the air?

"Yeah." He continued. "It should be here."

What… was that? Did he just smell the boundary? What the… she shook her head. She gave up. Everything about him was weird. So what if he could smell the boundary? At least he wasn't a woman. Yet. She shivered at that thought. Her thoughts were crossing into dangerous territory.

"Yes." Gin answered, a thoughtful look on his face. "This is where the boundary lies, separating the Seireitei from Ryuutamashiikai."

"Let's call Jidanbou."

As Shirou looked at her for answers, Rangiku grinned and shouted-

"JIDANBOU!"

Shirou glanced confusedly at Gin. Gin gave him his custom smile.

Before Shirou could bring up his question, a giant dropped from the air, a wall falling with him. The giant crashed down with a loud CRASH, as walls dropped around him. They formed a circular wall around the boundary, forming a wall to keep others out of Seireitei. And with the wall dropping down, a massive gate filled the last slot, effectively barricading Seireitei.

Smoke that had filled the air from the impact slowly dispersed. The giant, Jidanbou, walked out grinning.

"You two back from your mission? Who's he?" The giant asked as he pointed at Shirou with his axe.

Rangiku grinned. "This hunk is the Wandering Swordsman." She draped herself other Shirou's shoulders.

"I brought him here to show off Seireitei."

" _Hunk?_ "Shirou thought as he tried to face Rangiku.

Inside his soul, Arturia was blowing a fuse.

" _GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY SHIROU YOU BIMBO!"_

Shirou sweat dropped. _"It's just a joke. Don't worry about it."_

" _If you don't get her filthy hands off of you right now, I'm going to be forced to pummel you to death Shirou."_

" _Why me?"_ Shirou complained as he finally shrugged Rangiku off.

Meanwhile, Rangiku silently sent Jidanbou a message with her eyes.

 _He's important._

 _Don't do anything stupid._

Jidanbou grinned. "Oh, so you're the famous wandering swordsman?"

He leaned closer to Shirou. Another grin.

"You don't look too strong."

Rangiku sighed as she facepalmed.

"?" Shirou looked up at the giant. He contemplated answering, and he found the words he was looking for. Or rather, the word he was looking for.

"Ok."

Jidanbou and Rangiku blinked. That… was a much calmer reaction than they thought.

"Uh." Jidanbou began, sweating as he did so. "I'll open the gate now…"

And Jidanbou turned around and gripped the bottom of the gate. With enormous strength filling his arms, he heaved the door open in one go. And as the door opened, Shirou saw it for the first time.

Beautiful white walls adorned the normal houses. Everything about the place seemed much more expensive and well off. Great houses, great compounds, and an even greater atmosphere littered the area. But that wasn't important.

Two people stood in the middle of the road, facing the incoming trio. One, a beautiful short woman with dark skin and purple hair. The other, a tall blonde man with a calculating stare.

Both people reminded him vaguely of heroic spirits.

He sighed.

This might be more dangerous than he thought.

* * *

AN: We hit 300 favorites and 450 follows. Wow. Thanks for the support!

bololzzz: Shirou will be affected. Maybe not Arturia due to her magic resistance, but Shirou in his base form will be affected.

Ciel de Lueur: Thanks! I cannot be compared to parcasious though. That guy is the real g.

tl34lt12: Yeah i'm making it a little bit different in that the body is shared between the spirit and Shirou. I'm mainly doing this to show that the spirit has a lot more authority in that form than the cards in Prisma do.

Crusader King: Thanks!

OgamiRei-kun: I'll make sure to be careful. After reading your review, I was tempted to rename the chapter Fate Transsexual. That's hilarious!

DemonRaily: Hmm interesting. Maybe? I'm having some ideas now...

Guest: I agree that Heroic Spirits are very strong as well, but there will be affects to merging with them. I hope to balance the strength that way.

Magnanimous Architect: Sometime in the future. It'll be a fun scene to write.


	13. Fate Hero

"Well, what do we have here?"

Time grinded to a stop. Pressure. An amazing amount of pressure suddenly began to push down on Shirou's shoulder as somebody approached. He gulped as he was struck by flashbacks of the Holy Grail War. Of the night he had met Lancer and Archer fighting.

Of the day he had died.

Shirou slowly turned to face the approaching person, his aria on the tip of his tongue, ready to trace.

It was a duo.

A woman. She had short purple hair, reaching her lower chin, and golden eyes. Wearing a sleeveless black shihakusho and a white haori, she struck an imposing figure.

Even though she was short. Really short.

…It sort of felt like watching Saber for the first time.

Shirou turned to observe the taller Shinigami.

A man. Walking alongside the shorter Shinigami, albeit a half step behind, he felt very out of place. He had shaggy blonde hair and gray eyes that reminded Shirou of the calm before a storm. Wearing a standard black shihakusho and a lazy posture, he seemed like a genuinely friendly guy.

Then again, Lancer had seemed friendly too.

Shirou shook his head. Lancer hadn't seemed friendly. He _was_ friendly. At least, for a Heroic Spirit willing to massacre his way through a war to obtain his wish.

Then _again_ , he probably should be considered one of the friendliest of fellows. At least, considering his era.

" _Shirou."_ Arturia began sternly. _"This isn't the time for this."_

He nodded internally as he agreed with Arturia. This wasn't the time for nostalgia. Not with these two threats in front of him. Who knows what these guys were capable of? With his luck, they would be heroic spirits.

"Isn't this the famous Ichimaru-san?" The female began with a teasing voice. "I heard much about you. Shame that you joined Hirako's squad." A sharp glint shined through her golden eyes. "You would have done well in Squad 2."

Shirou turned to face Gin while simultaneously keeping the two approaching Shinigami in his sight.

Gin grinned. "Oh, you know how it is Shihoin-taichou, I got gobbled up by Aizen-fukutaichou before I could even say anything."

The taller blonde Shinigami suddenly tensed. Something must have happened. Shirou observed the blonde as he seemed to contemplate something. The blonde's eyes no longer oozed repressed laziness, but rather cold calculations. The blonde gave Gin an odd look.

"Aizen-fukutaichou… hmm."

Shirou turned to give Rangiku a questioning glance. Who was this Aizen fellow?

Rangiku gave a confused look to Gin. "Aizen-fukutaichou recommended you to Hirako-taichou?" She seemed to turn even more confused at her question. "But you barely know Aizen-fukutaichou right?"

That didn't sound very normal.

Now everyone's eyes were on Gin. Even under the pressure of the scrutinizing stares, Gin didn't falter.

Gin grinned.

"Hey," he began, chuckling as he did so. "Everyone has secrets."

Shirou shook his head as the tension seemed to rise once more.

He had absolutely no idea what was going on.

* * *

Yoruichi hummed thoughtfully. She didn't like Aizen-fukutaichou at all. He was too… smart. Too perfect. Hearing that he was close to another genius like Ichimaru-kun was suspicious. And nobody had know in the academy? Even his close friend? That was interesting.

But unfortunately, Ichimaru-kun was doing a fantastic job of being cryptic at the moment. She sighed as she gave up for now. There was important business to get to.

"So." She began as she turned to give the redhead a once over. "You're the legendary Wandering Swordsman."

A brow was raised at that. "Legendary?"

Interesting. So, he wasn't aware of his fame?

"Yes." She simply replied. "The Wandering Swordsman that fell from heaven to guide the poor souls of Rukongai to safety. The Wandering Swordsman that protects the poor and saves the weak. The hero of Rukongai."

"…The hero?"

He seemed perplexed. Almost… confused.

The second brow raised to join the first. That was weird. He didn't strike her as the type to be uncertain of what he was doing. And not only that, but he seemed oddly captivated by her words. Was is what she had said? Hero?

Did he want to be a hero?

Yoruichi shook her head. She needed more answers. "And what do you call yourself. Oh hero?"

"…" The redhead had a glazed look. Did that word really stir him up so much?

"I..." He began after some time. "I'm Emiya Shirou."

"And I'm a hero."

Her head tilted slowly. She began her next words slowly, as if talking to a particularly dumb child.

"Yes. I just called you that." Was something wrong with him? Why was he so slow? Why wasn't he saying anything else? She slowly raised her finger to point at him. With a serious gaze, she opened her mouth to say-

"Are you slow or something?"

He stared. His mouth slowly opened as his finger came up to point at himself.

And then he turned red.

And watching the boy splutter as he tried to find the correct answer made Yoruichi realize something. Amidst all the rumors and the 10 years of elusiveness, she had imagined a fearless warrior who had been trained to deal with Shinigami. One that had been capable enough to dodge patrols easily and could play games easily as he/she evaded questions and fought wars. She had imagined someone with the potential to be a danger to everyone.

He was just a kid.

She could not see the incredible KI that older Shinigami such as the Soutaichou or Unohona-taichou had. She could not see the worn-out expression of a soul that had seen too much. She could not see the legendary Wandering Swordsman. Sure, he had the experienced gait of a Shinigami. But that was just it. He looked about as trained as an ordinary academy student.

What had happened for him to be the wandering swordsman? To do the things he did?

And even as Rangiku burst out into laughter at Shirou's plight and everything seemed fine, she realized something about this boy was wrong. He was awkward. He had no clue what he was doing. Why would he even come to Seireitei? She gave him another once over. He didn't seem forced to come. She turned slightly to give Kisuke a glance. Kisuke, the genius, gave her the same glance. She wasn't wrong then. Something had to have happened to the boy.

And for some reason Yoruichi felt like the question would answer everything.

But there was one thing for certain.

Yoruichi grinned as Shirou attempted to hide his ever-growing blush. At her side, Kisuke recognized her grin and sighed aloud.

'Shirou' was _cute._

Dumbfounded silence. Everyone turned to stare at her.

Whoops. Had she said that out loud?

Ah, Shirou was growing even redder. A giggle escaped from her mouth.

Yes, he was definitely _very_ cute.

* * *

" _Shirou if you dare to sneak another peak at that woman I'll be forced to kill you."_

Shirou sighed internally. _"Arturia it's nothing like that. You know I would never betray you."_

Arturia huffed as she turned quiet.

Shirou shook his head as he sighed once more. Ever since the tense meeting with the two Shinigami that had come to welcome them, things had been awkward. The purple haired shinigami- Shihoin-taichou- had said some very interesting things and some equally embarrassing things. He shook his head.

He was now touring the city with the two girls. Gin had excused himself, saying that he had to report to Hisako-taichou. The blonde shinigami- Urahara Kisuke- was sent back by Yoruichi, stating that he had paperwork to do. Shirou took the chance to observe the purple haired Shinigami once more.

The woman definitely felt strong. He could feel her overwhelming presence even now, when she was actively suppressing it. He would have to be careful around her, no matter her _preferences_. He shivered at that. What would he do if she ever came onto him?

" _No worries Shirou."_ Arturia began, a little vindictively. _"I have full confidence that I can successfully protect you and destroy her at the same time."_

He face palmed. _"Arturia, maybe killing the strong captain Shinigami isn't the best of ideas when she seems friendly and we are in her territory."_

" _Hmph."_

Shirou sighed once more.

A strange smell hit his nose. He sniffed the air. Was that… could he smell cats? He closed his eyes as he focused on concentrating on the smell. He leaned closer as he tried to pinpoint the smell.

"Oh?" He opened his eyes as an impish voice broke his concentration. A beautiful face filled his view.

"I didn't realize you were this forward." She began as she grinned. "But that's alright, your enthusiasm is cute."

Oops. He didn't mean to do that.

"It's nothing like that." He defended himself even as Yoruichi and Rangiku both raised an eyebrow.

"You just… smell."

A tense silence filled the area. Time seemed to stop as Yoruichi and Rangiku both stopped in their tracks.

"…What?"

Shirou, startled at the sudden stop, turned to face the two. "What's wrong?"

"I…smell?" Yoruichi asked slowly, through gritted teeth. "I… SMELL?"

"Ah." Shirou began lamely. Had he said something wrong? "No…?"

"Shirou-kun…" Rangiku said with a stern look. "You can't say that to a maiden. I thought you knew better than that."

He sweat dropped. Was that how it worked? How could he explain his 6th sense in a way that wasn't weird?

"It's not exactly smell… it's more like an aura."

"What do you mean?" Yoruichi asked as she slowly reigned in her temper. "What aura?"

"Well, I've come to realize that my mind recognizes magical phenomena as a sense. It just doesn't really know what to interpret the sense as… so it mostly converts itself into a smell." He explained as best he could.

"Oh." Yoruichi thoughtfully hummed. "So, what do I 'smell' like?"

"Um," Shirou began as he closed his eyes, nostrils flaring. "A…a…cat? Of some sort."

"Oh wow." Yoruichi gave him an impressed glance. "I guess you know what you're talking about."

A grin opened wide. "And here I thought you were just trying to sniff my scent." She began to walk again.

Just as he began to follow her, she turned around with a wink.

"I wouldn't have minded if that was the case by the way."

He hated how his heart skipped a beat.

" _Shirou…"_

He sweat dropped. _"It's not like that Arturia. She's just teasing me."_

She harrumphed as she stopped talking once more. Shirou sighed. What was wrong with Arturia? Didn't she know he was faithful to her?

"…" A mumble.

"?" Shirou turned his focus back to Arturia. _"What was that?"_

" _Its nothing."_ Arturia spoke glumly. _"It's just that I wish I could be walking out with you right now. Like you are doing right now with these two girls. Like we used to do in Fuyuki."_

" _I'm just jealous of those two."_

" _Don't be."_ Shirou said as seriously as he could. _"Now that I found you, I'm never letting you go. I'll find a way for us to be together physically as well."_

" _Shirou…"_

"So Shirou-kun you have a girlfriend? No right? Do you want one anytime soon?"

Shirou sweatdropped once more as Arturia fumed once more. Looks like Arturia would just have to endure Yoruichi until then.

* * *

AN: Short chapter. Sorry guys. IRL stuff hit me hard. School is beginning soon and part time job + family is taking up a large chunk of my time. Ill try to find some more time to write. In the mean time, have a short chap.

AnimeA55Kicker: That... I... guess so? That's a weird thought. Why did you put that thought into my mind.


	14. Fate Sun

"So," he began as he glanced at Yoruichi. "You said you were the captain of a squad?"

Yoruichi examined a pretty trinket as the stall owner rambled about the price of said trinket. She turned to give him a sideways glance. She studied him for a second, golden eyes shining, before turning back to the trinket.

A second passed before the beautiful Shinigami answered. "Yeah, I'm the current captain of the 2nd division."

Shirou hummed thoughtfully. If this was the level of strength of a captain… this might be more dangerous than he and Arturia originally thought. While he was confident that Saber and he could take down Yoruichi if need be, he wasn't sure if he could do the same with 13 captains of equal strength. Maybe the other captains wouldn't be as strong as her? What about the man that had followed her before? Urahara was it?

"And what about Urahara-san?"

"Hm?" Yoruichi turned to give him her full attention, trinket no longer in hand. "Oh? Why so curious?" A grin. "Are you jealous? Don't worry, he's just my underling. I only have you in my eyes."

Shirou felt his cheeks burning. "It's not like that! I just asked because I'm curious about Urahara-san's position…"

Yoruichi blinked. "Hoh, so you swing that way?" She grinned ferally. "I didn't expect that from the wandering swordsman."

Huh? What was she talking about? "Swing that way? Swing what way? What are you talking about?"

A long silence ensued.

Hm? What was wrong with everyone?

"Shirou-kun…" Shirou turned to face Rangiku who had given up on another trinket in lieu of facing him fully. "Are you serious?"

Serious? Why wouldn't he be serious? What was going on?

"What are you talking about? Of course, I'm serious. Why wouldn't I be?"

Another silence filled the air. Both Yoruichi and Rangiku stared at him in disbelief. He began to slowly feel uncomfortable.

" _Arturia do you have any clue what's happening?"_ Shirou tilted his head as he inwardly asked.

" _I am not quite sure. Maybe it has something to do with asking about Urahara-san's position? Is it possibly rude? Maybe asking without him around is considered swinging?"_

" _Hm. Maybe?"_

Shirou cleared his throat. "Oh, I see."

Both Yoruichi and Rangiku looked offended when he broke the tense silence.

"Do you… really see?" Rangiku asked slowly.

"Yes." Shirou responded coolly.

Both women sighed in relief.

"I realize I may have been rude in asking Urahara-san's position." He mused as he scratched his chin. "I'll be sure to ask him next time."

Yoruichi froze. She took a second to glance at his completely serious features. And then another to look at Rangiku's frozen features. And then,

She laughed. Honestly laughed, as she clutched her stomach as if to stop it from spilling out.

Shirou blinked. Had he been wrong?

He shook his head. _"Arturia?"_

" _I am not quite sure either Shirou. Shinigami are weird"_

He sighed as he nodded his head.

Shinigami were weird.

* * *

Yoruichi shook her head. The guy was hilarious. Over the course of the 2-hour tour of Seireitei, she had come to know Shirou, the wandering swordsman, a little better. He was fun, he was cute, he was adorable.

He was also completely clueless.

Or maybe it was better to say that he was selectively clueless. Hadn't he blushed when she teased him? Maybe he had a weird childhood? He may have been a sheltered child.

She shook her head once more. Shirou-kun was cute… but that also brought up questions.

Why was he so clueless? Assuming he had an unstable childhood, or he had no friends… how did he become the wandering swordsman? Didn't he need to have friends to learn how to treasure bonds? What had happened to those friends? Why was he working alone now? Why didn't he take payments? Why wouldn't he rest?

Yoruichi studied him secretly. The way he talked and the posture he had when he walked suggested someone of high birth. Maybe not a born noble, but someone who was used to manners. He couldn't be someone born in Rukongai.

Where would someone like that exist? The tells he had were too subtle to be something he had picked up to help disguise himself. That could only mean that he had lived and grown up in a situation where those manners were needed. She had scoured the Shinigami Academy records and hadn't found anyone of his description. Maybe a declining noble house? An orphan of an exiled noble house?

She sighed audibly. Too many mysteries surrounded the boy. She would have to go investigate more records. She visually slumped as she dreaded the work she could imagine it would take.

"Are you alright Yoruichi-san? You seem tired."

Hm? She glanced up to find Shirou smiling at her. Quite observant of him. Had he been watching her so closely? She opened her mouth to tease him once more when -she noticed.

"How do you smile like that?"

Shirou's smile faltered. Oops. She hadn't meant to do that. "Excuse me?"

"Just, your smile. It's very bright." Yoruichi explained even as she turned back to study another trinket.

"It's something I haven't seen in many experienced Shinigami."

Shirou grew silent as he contemplated his answer.

A second passed. Two, ten, a minute, two, an hour passed without an answer.

Maybe she shouldn't have asked such a personal question? She had tried to give him time to find his answer, but it seemed it wasn't likely to be found in time.

And just as she approached the doors that would open to reveal the council, he murmured something.

Hm? She turned back to face him fully even as she opened the doors.

Another gorgeous smile filled his face. He nodded, as if to affirm his answer to himself.

"It's because I'm living my dream."

His dream? What was his dream?

But her question was drowned out by the pressure that exploded out of the doors. The doors opened to reveal the council of captains and the soutaichou who was currently menacingly glaring at her.

Ah, she was late wasn't she.

Oops.

* * *

Gin slid open the door to Aizen-fukutaichou's private room. He took two steps inside, sliding the doors close as he did so, and sat seiza on the tatami mats. The sun shone softly through the windows, creating a soft atmosphere of light.

It was cold.

Aizen sat seiza not too far from him, a calligraphy brush in his hand, creating a world of words. The beauty of the words didn't escape Gin even as he tilted his eyes down to the tatami mats.

"A beauty isn't it?"

There was no need to answer. Both Aizen and he knew the answer.

"Yes." He answered anyways. There was no getting around Aizen when he was in the mood.

"I wonder if this is how the soul king feels." Aizen mused as he returned to concentrating on the painting. "Just casually taking a brush and creating a beautiful world. Expressing the emotions he remembers as pieces of art that lay unattended. Just like our world."

Gin nodded. He may not agree with Aizen's methods, but Aizen really had a way with words that made you doubt anything and everything.

"What do you have for me today?" Aizen asked as he finished his calligraphy up. Leaving the beautifully crafted world to dry up and crinkle.

"I have just arrived from a mission to retrieve the Wandering Swordsman."

"I see."

Silence ensued as Aizen sat there looking at the calligraphy painting, lost in thought.

"And? What was he like?"

"Stupidly naïve. Ignorant. Clueless. Idealist."

Aizen hummed thoughtfully.

Another long silence ensued.

Time passed as Gin sat there, studying Aizen's reaction. Aizen didn't so much as move during the wait. He sat there, almost as if he was a stone statue.

An hour had passed. Gin had to give Aizen some credit. How did he create such a perfect persona when he did stuff like this? How could he sit stone still for hours on end and still have a perfect smile?

Aizen abruptly got up. "A shame."

"I guess it's about time for me to find out for myself."

Aizen walked towards the doors as he put on his haori.

He slid open the door and walked outside. He stopped for a second, asking Gin a silent question.

Are you coming?

Gin shook his head. And as Aizen slid the door close-

"You know," Gin began slowly. The door stopped as Aizen stilled. "Even if it was in a different way."

"He reminded me of you."

Another long silence passed as the winds softly blew into the room from the courtyard.

Gin didn't need to turn around to see Aizen's calculating stare.

"…Oh?"

The doors slid close, the wind no longer filling the room.

Strangely, the sweat on his back felt even colder.

* * *

Shirou gulped as Yoruichi left his side to walk over to an empty spot next to two captains.

He took a second to observe the room. A couple windows filled the dojo like room. Allowing the beautiful rays of the setting sun to soak into the room. Beautiful wooden floors, polished to perfection, and one podium where an old man sat looking over everyone.

The pressure overwhelmed him as his nose did it's best to identify the numerous powers filling the room.

It didn't really matter in the end. All 13 people standing in the room were strong. Very strong.

And Shirou could feel it. They felt like minor heroic spirits, people who were either on the verge of becoming a legend of their own right or were great warriors. But that wasn't important. He knew they would be this strong. The "problem" was the old man in the middle, he wasn't on the verge of becoming a legend-

He was a legend.

Shirou sighed. What had he gotten himself into?

" _Shirou. It is rude to sigh in the presence of royalty."_

He straightened his back. Right, he would need to give the image of being politely independent. And strong enough to be so.

"Greetings," He began as he bowed traditionally. "My name is Emiya Shirou. I have come today with an invitation from Ichimaru Gin and Matsumoto Rangiku. I hope we can get along."

For a second nobody answered. Another passed as Yoruichi wryly grinned and sent him a thumbs up.

"Well," A man drawled out. "I wasn't expecting someone like you that's for sure."

Shirou gave the man a quick glance and had to rub his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was real.

Shirou watched incredulously as the man waved at him lazily.

He was wearing a hideous pink cloak, one that reminded him of a sakura petal. A straw hat over his head, messy chest hair proudly displayed, and an unkempt beard painted a very rough image.

However, his posture spoke otherwise. Lazy, but on alert, he reminded Shirou of someone he knew.

An unnamed swordsman sitting atop a hill.

The man smiled at Shirou's silent observation. "I'm Kyouraku Shunsui. Captain of the 8th, pleasure meeting you."

Shirou gave a sharp nod.

" _Be careful Shirou."_ Arturia said as he studied the man. _"The lazy types are dangerous."_

" _I will."_ Shirou replied internally.

"However," The captain- Kyouraku-san- spoke as he finished his own observation of Shirou. "Considering you don't have breasts, I don't really care too much about you."

Silence.

A moment passed as everyone tried to wrap their heads around what they heard. An incredulous expression appeared on Shirou's face. Had…had he just heard that correctly?

Three sighs broke the silence. The soutaichou, a somewhat pale man, and an elderly but elegant man all turned to the lazy captain to express their exasperation.

Shirou slowly turned to give Yoruichi a glance of disbelief. Hadn't he been told to keep upmost politeness and respect for the captains?

Yoruichi gave her customary cat like grin.

Shirou shook his head as the lazy man and the pale man began to argue the manners that should be used within the courtroom.

The old man just sat there as if this was common.

What the fuck was going on?

* * *

He had seen many types of people over the years of ruling Seireitei. Ever since he had created the academy, he had always been on the lookout for better, stronger people. He was no longer the peerless warrior that sought out stronger and stronger opponents without defeat, but he was still a warrior in his own right. And the young man in front of him now, even with his stupid expression of disbelief, rekindled a sense long forgotten. Because even he had been a teacher once, looking for potential students. And this Emiya Shirou reminded him.

One of infinite potential.

Only a couple of others gave him this sensation. Kyouraku was one. Ukitake another.

… Aizen the third.

And now a fourth in Emiya Shirou.

" _Interesting."_

He perked up at that. " _Ryuujin? Is that you."_

" _Have you gone senile already? Of course, it's me. No one else can talk to you in your head, can they?"_

A small smile rose up. " _How have you been old friend. You have been silent these past few decades."_

" _There has been nothing of importance recently. And you know where to find me if you need me. You need only call."_

" _Of course."_ He replied internally as he shook his head.

" _Let's get back on track, shall we? The boy."_

" _What about him?"_

" _He's special. His existence… is anchored into the realm very lightly. Almost as if he shouldn't be here."_

Yamamoto took a second to study the boy who was even now confusedly watching the two quarrelling brats.

" _He doesn't belong. But… my existence calls out for him just the same."_

Yamamoto's eyes narrowed at that. _"What do you mean?"_

Ryuujin Jakka's voice took an impish tone. _"If he had been born before you, maybe_ _he would have been the one to wield me."_

Yamamoto blinked. Someone on his level? He hadn't seen someone like that… in a long time.

He grinned as his blood began pumping. He hadn't been this excited since the early days of conquest. Maybe… maybe he had found someone important.

He would need to convince the boy to stay no matter what. Regardless of the boy's values or plans, he was too valuable and dangerous to be left alone.

He steadied himself as he knocked his staff against the hard floor. Silence once again reigned as everyone turned to face him.

Someone strong enough to wield Ryuujin Jakka.

Maybe he could retire a little earlier.

* * *

The old man knocked his staff on the floor as everyone fell silent.

Shirou gulped. That sounded strangely ominous.

And as Shirou raised his gaze to meet the old man's, he caught sight of the staff that must have created the ominous sound.

His eyes found it, and-

He was staring at hills.

" _Oh?"_

Shirou slowly turned, to come face to face with a nobleman. One with the brightest golden hair, red eyes, and a smile that warmed his soul. Wearing elegant red robes, the man reminded Shirou strangely of the sun.

" _Well isn't this a surprise?"_ the man said as he crossed his arms.

" _What a beautiful soul you have."_

Shirou narrowed his eyes. The fact that this spirit had come into his soul could mean only one thing.

"A zanpakuto spirit?" He had thought it impossible to grasp parts of a soul into his own soul but obviously _something_ had changed.

" _Indeed."_ The man smiled as he glowed infinitesimally. " _I am Ryuujin Jakka."_

Shirou cocked his head in confusion. What made 'Ryuujin Jakka' different? He had tried saving both Rangiku's and Gin's zanpakuto within his reality marble with minimal results. What had changed?

" _Nothing."_ The beautiful man replied even as he slowly grew brighter. _"Nothing has changed with your soul. I am fundamentally different from those brats. They are a part of the soul of a regular Shinigami."_

A smile. _"I on the other hand, am not born from Yamamoto's soul. Precious as he is, I am my own existence."_

Wait. Yamamoto?

"Yamamoto?" Shirou began slowly, "As in the soutaichou Yamamoto."

" _Indeed."_

Shirou felt dizzy. Where was Arturia when he needed her?

" _I am right here, Shirou."_

The two turned to face the new arrival, a beautiful woman shining just as bright as Ryuujin Jakka was shining. A woman wearing lapels of gold and blue, exuding a presence of nobility and _right._

She was a king. The king destined to lead.

" _Well met."_ She did a small curtsy. " _I am King Arturia Pendragon. Welcome to Shirou's soul."_

Ryuujin Jakka blinked. " _Hello. I am Ryuujin Jakka, the remnant fire."_

" _Indeed, I've been introduced to you before."_

" _Hm?"_ He cocked his eyebrows.

" _Yes, I have met Yamamoto-san within the throne."_

" _The throne?"_

" _Yes. The throne is where all the heroic spirits within Shirou's reality marble resides. It is where Yamamoto-san resides as well."_

Ryuujin Jakka blinked once more in contemplative silence.

" _Interesting."_ He turned to face Shirou before gesturing at him. _"Brat… interesting. Everything about your soul, your existence, your women,"_

" _Is special."_

Shirou blinked as Saber's cheeks brightened. How had he known that?

" _You don't belong. Yet you will influence just the same. I have high hopes for you."_

He paused, as if to study Shirou's soul once more. His eyes raked the lonely fields of the reality marble, littered with swords resting upon one another. His eyes filled with a peculiar emotion when he noticed his own sword planted within a hill. His noble sword, one filled with the brightness of the sun and the darkness of the dead.

It seemed oddly peaceful. In a way that he hadn't ever seen himself being.

" _You are a sword."_

There was no question. Just a statement, with a hint of wonder.

"Yes." A neutral tone, one of acceptance.

"…" Ryuujin Jakka didn't take his eyes off the hills. The hills strongly reminded him of his own domain of power. Of fire. Of death.

" _A sword,"_ He began even as he knew the answer as surely as he knew his own name. _"Forged within fire and death."_

A tentative silence. Wind blew through the hills, as if soothing the souls within. All three souls stood in contemplative silence as they watched the massive gears that ever so slowly ticked.

"Yes."

A single word broke the silence, the wind carrying the soft word throughout the entirety of his soul.

Yes. The boy would do well.

* * *

AN: Hey guys. Sorta guilty for uploading so late. Sorry about that. Mandatory army service coming up. Been feeling sad. xD

I know some people have been arguing that Saber has been too OOC within the story. While I can see where you guys are coming from, I do believe that a Saber that had stayed within Shirou's soul for so long and had finally been able to meet him would be more possessive of him. At least that was my reasoning. You will see her becoming more into her original character as the story progresses.

I also made the old man Yamamoto a bit more of an impish man. I don't know why, but he always struck me as a tired warrior. One who no longer wanted to rule with an iron fist, but did so anyways to keep the order. It's just as much of a journey for me as it is for you guys. I'm not quite sure which direction I will use to develop him further. I'm sorry if he is OOC.

Anyways, sorry for the late update. Cheers.


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